
(lass 3lf\Q>°\Q 

Book-^0 % Ql2l 



THE 



HISTORY of OSWESTRY, 

COMPRISING THE 

BRITISH, SAXON, N0R1TAN, AND ENGLISH ERAS; 

THE 

TOPOGRAPHY OF THE BOROUGH; 

AND ITS 

ECCLESIASTICAL AND CIVIC HISTORY: 

WITH NOTICES OP 

BOTANY, GEOLOGY, STATISTICS, ANGLING, AND MOGKAPHY: 

TO WHICH ARE ADDED 

SKETCHES OF THE ENVIRONS. 



ILLUSTRATED with WOOD-ENGRAVINGS, 

By MR. PERCY CRUIKSHANK, after Sketches by MR. ROBERT 
CRUIKSHANK. 



WRITTEN AND COMPILED 

BY WILLIAM CATHRALL, 

AUTHOR OF "THE HISTORY OF NORTH WALES," "WANDERINGS 
IN NORTH WALES," &c. 



OSWESTRY: 

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GEORGE LEWIS. 



ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. 



54S"l 



'ca 






tynhu. 



The issue of this volume has been "the accident of an 
accident." I was called by commercial business last autumn 
to Oswestry, where I found, temporarily located, a man with 
humour at his finger-ends, and of "infinite jest " on paper. 
I allude to Mr. Robert Cruikshank, an artist scarcely 
inferior to his celebrated brother, Mr. George Cruikshank. — 
par nobile fratrum, who have both successfully laboured in 
their vocation to 

" Shoot folly as it flies, 

And catch the living manners as they rise." 

Mr. Robert Cruikshank, pleased with the rich and diversified 
scenery of the neighbourhood of Oswestry, undertook to 
illustrate the present book. To be thus pictorially aided was a 
distinction, and I therefore cheerfully complied with the wish 
of the respectable publisher, to try my "'prentice hand" at 
a History of the Borough. Mr. Cruikshank has well executed 
his task. What may be my portion of merit will be deter- 
mined by the judgment, not critically severe, I hope, of my 
readers. 

The History of Oswestry and its neighbourhood is, how- 
ever, worthy of a more elaborate and carefully-wrought 



PREFACE. 

volume than that which I now send forth ; and I should have 
been glad had some pen, abler than my own, been employed 
in the completion of so desirable a work. Oswestry is not 
deficient in the talent or learning necessary to produce a 
voluminous history ; but until the historic mantle fall upon 
some kindred spirit, that can evoke with magic skill the 
dramatis personce and chequered incidents of bye-gone ages, 
and beguile his readers with beautiful delineations of his 
native hills and vallies, the good citizens of Oswestry must, 
I fear, content themselves with the present volume, whose 
chief excellence, if it possess any, may be found to consist in 
supplying a collection of interesting facts, connected with the 
town and district, hitherto dispersed through many publi- 
cations. 

In preparing this volume for the press much delay has 
occurred from the pressure of other and more anxious engage- 
ments. In wading, however, through musty tomes and 
modern books, I have been instructed and solaced by the way. 
The Past reveals little else than vandal darkness and the 
pride and pomp of feudal power. Lords and their vassals 
figure chiefly in the discordant scene, and ignorant dependence 
is too commonly seen prostrate at the feet of favourites, in 
court or field, of ambitious and despotic monarchs. The 
Present has a more genial and encouraging aspect. Religion, 
with her gentle handmaids, Literature, Science, and Art, 
is shedding its radiance even over this district, so long the 
theatre of Border-feuds, strife, and injustice. The Future, 
therefore, indicates still more agreeable promise ; and those of 
the present generation who are co-operating in the good work 
already begun, of endeavouring to make the world better 
than they found it, will have the consolation of leaving to 
posterity an inheritance more precious than silver or gold. 



PREFACE. 

I cannot close these remarks without thankfully acknow- 
ledging the assistance I have derived, from several gentlemen 
of the town and neighbourhood, in the prosecution of my 
labours. If I could have stirred up many others to the 
grateful task of elucidating the history of their native or 
adopted place of residence, I should have been still more 
satisfied. I take this opportunity of mentioning the names of 
The Rev. Thomas Salwey, Vicar of Oswestry, Richard 
Redmond Caton, Esq., F. S. A., Edward Williams, Esq., of 
Lloran House, R. J. Croxon, Esq., Charles Sabine, Esq., and 
one or two other gentlemen, who, with a becoming feeling of 
respect for the ancient borough, have kindly aided me by 
various contributions. 

I am sensible of many imperfections in the volume ; but I 
trust, by the generous support of the Public, I may be enabled, 
at some not far distant day, to revise my pages, and render 
them still more worthy, of acceptance. 

WILLIAM CATHRALL. 



Osiuestry, October, 1855. 



LIST OF SUBSCKIBEKS. 



Asterley Miss, Willow- street 
Attree R. W., Esq., Plasmadoc 

Bassett Joseph, Esq., solicitor 
Berry Joseph, Accountant 
Bennion Edward David, Esq., 

Summer Hill 
Baugh Robert, Llanymynech 
Bull William Isaac, Esq., solicitor 
Bickerton George Morrel, brazier 
Bartlett Charles Archibald, 32, 

Paternoster Row, London 
Buckley Miss Eliza 
Broughall John, Esq., Fernhill, 

Whittington 
Barlow Thomas, Esq., postmaster, 

Worksop 
Barnes William, Osberton Hall, 

Notts 
Bayley Joseph, Quadrant 

Cashel Rev. Frederick, In- 
cumbent of Trinity Church 

Corbett Vincent, Esq. 

Caton Richard Redmond, Esq., 
F.S.A. 

Croxon Richard Jones, Esq., 
Town Clerk 

Crutchloe Henry, Lloran Cottage 

Cooper George, Esq., Salop-road 

Cullis William, Lower Brook-st. 



Corney William, confectioner and 
spirit merchant 

Churchill Benjamin, Esq., Bellan 
House 

Cross Thomas, Ornithologist 

Cox J., porter merchant, Bir- 
mingham 

Clarke Mrs., 3, Devonshire- terrace, 
Paddington, London 

Cruikshank Percy, Pentonville, 
London 

Churchill Miss, Bellan House 
(2 copies) 

Crippin R., Church-street 

Cross William B., Cross-street 

Cartwright Samuel, Abbey Fore- 
gate, Shrewsbury 

Donne Rev. Stephen, the 

Schools (12 copies) 
Dovaston John, Esq., Nursery, 

West Felton 
Davies Henry, Esq., solicitor 
Davies John, draper 
Davies Edward, confectioner 
Davies Captain, Llanymynech 
Dicker Phillip Henry, Esq., surg. 
Davies Messrs. R. & W., Golden 

Eagle 
Downes Richard, Esq., Haughton 

Grange 



LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 



Davies Edward, Esq., surgeon, 

Llansilin 
Davies Henry, schoolmaster, 

Llandrinio 
Duckett Mrs. Tamar, the Lodge 
Davies Mrs. E., Chirk 
Duncan John, Esq., solicitor, 2, 

New Inn, Strand 
Davies W. M., Waterloo-house 
Davies Giles, Lower Brook-street 
Davies Thomas, Greenwich 
Davies John, Erwallo, Glyn 

Edwards James, Esq., Upper 

Brook-street (2 copies) 
Edmunds Rev, Edw., M.A., Vicar 

of St. Michael's, Southampton 
Eddy Walter, Mine Agent, Fron, 

Rhuabon 
Evans Edward, auctioneer 
Edwards Thomas, Esq., Cae Glas 
Edwards Ed., Commercial Hotel 
Eyeley Edward, organist 
Evans R. D., Esq., Meifod 
Edwards James Coster, Trefynant 
Edwards Thomas, chandler 
Evans John, ship builder, Mor- 

bum, Machynlleth 
Edwards Alfred, Hanwell, Mid- 
dlesex 
Edmunds Griffith, Albion Hill 
Edisbury James, Esq., Wrexham 
Edisbury J. F., Esq., Holywell 
Ellis Henry, English Walls 
Evans Edward, Liverpool Gas Co. 
Evans William, Glascoed 
Edwards Edward, currier 
Edwards William, Queen's Head 
Evans John, Church- street 
Ewing John, gardener, Osberton 

Hall 
Fitz-William, The Right 

Hon. The Earl (4 copies) 
Fitz-William, The Hon. Lady 

Charlotte Wentworth, Went- 

worth House 
Fitz-William, The Hon. M, S. C. 

Wentworth 
Fitz-William, The Hon. Lady 

Dorothy H. Wentworth 
Francis Captain, Aberystwith 
Fallon Rev. J, M., Bailee Rectory, 

Ireland 



Fuller William, Esq., Salop-road 

Furnin The Rev. J. P., Rode Par- 
sonage, near Lawton, Cheshire 

Faulder F. J., Esq., St. Ann's- 
square, Manchester 

Fox John, accountant 

Gore William Ormsby, Esq., 

M.P. for North Shropshire 
Grey William, Esq., New Burling- 
ton-street, London 
Gray Thos.,Esq. architect, Chester 
Greenwood J. W., Esq., London 
Goodwin John, Beatrice-street 
Galloway Charles, Halston 
George Roger, Willow-street 
Giles Henry, Cross-street 
Gornall Mrs. Jane, Swan Inn 
Griffiths William, Esq., solicitor, 
Dolgelley 

Hill The Right Hon. The 
Viscount, Lord Lieutenant of 
the County of Salop 
Hales John Miles, Esq., Lower 

Brook-street 
Hill T. Esq., Upper Brook-street 
Hill T. W., Esq., Upper Brook-st 
Har graves James, Esq., Whitting- 

ton (2 copies) 
Hayden Wm. Henry, 17, War- 
wick-square, London 
Higgins Samuel, draper 
Holland George, Whittington 
HusbandRev. J., Rectory, Selattyn 
Hopwood F. A., Station Master 

Gobowen 
Hardman Thomas, 14, Slater- 
street, Liverpool 
Hughes T., Esq., solr., Wrexham 
Hughes Miss Catherine, Church- 
street 
Hughes Alexander, Willow-street 
Hughes Miss Anne, Salop-road 
Humphreys Edmund, East Sheen, 

Richmond (2 copies) 
Hughes John, Savings' Bank 
Hilditch George, Esq., Salop-road 
Heaton Rev. H. E., M.A., per- 
petual curate of Llangedwin 
Hodgkinson R., Esq., estate agent, 

Osberton, Worksop 
Howell David, Willow-Street (2 
copies) 



LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 



Hughes Thos., Esq., Plasnewydd, 
Llansilin 

Jones, Rev. Llewelyn Wynn, 

M.A., Curate of Oswestry (2 

copies) 
Jacob Rev. L. R., Rhuabon 
Jones John, Esq., solicitor 
Jones Miss Harriette, Church-st. 
Jones Thomas, Esq., Boughton, 

Chester 
Jones Joseph, wine merchant 
Jones Edward, Plas Issa, Rhuabon 
Jones Mrs. Frances, London House 
Jones John, hair dresser 
Jones Edwin, Union-place 
Jones James Thomas, Esq., Bryn- 

hafod (2 copies) 
Jones Oswald Croxon, Esq., 

Enfield, Middlesex 
Jones Mrs. Mary Watkin, Cross- 
street 
Jacques Edwin William, Esq., 

Llangollen 
Jones Henry, tobacconist 
Jones Thomas, Esq., Brook-street 
Jones John, Esq., Domgay, 

Llandisilio 
Jervis Geo. Boot Inn, Whittington 
Jones Rev. D. L., Meifod 
Jones Rev. Walter, Llansilin 
Jones Richard, Cross-street 
Jones Richard, Saloprioad 
Jones Thomas, builder, Chester 
Jones Gwen, Cross-street 
Jones Henry, grocer, Cross-street 
Jones John Pryce, Willow-stree£ 
Jones John, Cross 
Jones Richard, Esq., Bellan Place, 

Rhuabon 
Jones Edward, Mine Agent, 

Llwynymapsis 

Kenyon John Robert, Esq., 

Recorder of Oswestry 
Kinchant Richard Henry, Esq., 

Park Hall 
King John Edward, Cross Keys 

Hotel 
Kilner Richard, Brittania Inn 

Lovett JosephVenables, Esq., 

Belmont 
LLoyd, Mrs., Aston Hall 



Longueville Mrs., Pen-y-lan 
Longueville Thomas Longueville, 

Esq. 
Lloyd Rev. Albany Rosendale, 

Hengoed 
Large Joseph, Esq., surgeon 
Lewis Richard, Osberton Hall, 

Notts (4 copies) 
Lloyd David Edward, Cross 
Lloyd David, Wynnstay Arms 

Hotel 
Lewis Charles Thomas, 38-9, 
Holloway Head, Birmingham 

(6 copies) 
Lewis Henry, painter, Beatrice-st. 
Lloyd Rev. David, Trefonen 
Lewis William, Elephant and 

Castle, Newtown 
Leah John, Esq., Willow-street 
Lewis Henry, building surveyor 

& contractor, Chester (2 copies,) 
Lever William H,, Esq., Chirk 
Lewis Miss Margaret, Cross 
Lees S. S., National Schools 
Lyons Aaron, Jeweller, Leg-street 
Lloyd Miss M. A., Willow-street 

Milton The Hon. Viscountess, 

Osberton, Notts 
Milton The Hon. Selina, Vis- 
countess, Osberton Hall, Notts 
Mickleburgh Chas. Esq., Mont- 
gomery (2 copies) 
Minshall Thomas, Esq., solicitor 
Morris Edward, Esq., Salop-road 
Morris William, builder 
M'Kie William Hay, Scybor Issa 
Morgan Captain, 54, Terrace, 

Aberystwith 
Minett William, Esq., Maesbury 
Meredith Edward, Rednal 
Morris Joseph, Esq., Shrewsbury 
Morgan John, Wynnstay 
Moreton and Son, Cross 
Morgan Thomas, Willow-street 
Mytton John, Church-street 
Manning Benjamin, Esq., War- 
wick-square, London 
Martin John, Esq., Gold Mine, 

Dinas Mowddy (3 copies) 
Monk Charles, Llangollen 
Morris George, Porkington 
Morgan R., Aberystwith 



LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 



M'Kie William H., Melbourne, 

Australia 
Morris John, builder (2 copies) 
Morris Thomas, chemist, Worksop, 

Notts 

Norfolk The Most Noble His 
Grace the Duke of (Baron 
of Oswestry), Arundel Castle, 
Sussex (4 copies) 

Nicholson J. Esq., Upper Brook- 
street 

Oswell Edward, Esq., solicitor 
Owen M. Wynne, Esq., Plas 

Wilmot 
Owen George, Esq., Park Issa (2 

copies) 
Oliver Irwin, Leg-street 
Owen Elizabeth, 5, Upper 

Parade, Leamington 
Oliver John, druggist, Liverpool 

Powis The Right Hon. the 

Earl of (Lord of the Manor of 

Oswestry), Powis Castle 
Portman The Right Hon. Lord, 

Bryanstone House, Dorset 
Portman The Hon. William 

Berkeley, M. P. 
Phillips John, Esq., Cross 
Porter Isaac, Esq., Salop-road 
Pryce Thomas, Cross-street 
Powell John Richard, Esq., Prees- 

gwene 
Price William, Esq., Fulford, York 
Phillips the Rev. John Croxon, 

Tynyrhos 
Pearson Mr. S., clothier, 2, 

Lamb's Conduit-street, London 
Penson Richard Kyrke, Esq., 

Willow-street 
Price Miss Mary, The Cross 
Phillip and Son Messrs., Liverpool 
PensonThomas Mainwaring,Esq., 

Chester 
Price Miss Elizabeth, Confectioner, 

Cross 
Peate Jane, Porkington Terrace 
Pierce Mrs. H., 87, Park Terrace, 

Green Heys, Manchester 
Perkins Samuel, Bailey Head 
Pearson W., J. Munn and Co., 

Manchester (4 copies) 



Powell William, Salop Road 
Parry Thomas Price, Willow-st. 
Provis William A., Esq., Cross- 
street 
PearceR.A., Esq., Worksop, Notts 

Rogers Thomas, Esq., Stone 

House 
Roberts Thomas Vaughan, Esq., 

solicitor 
Roberts Thomas, Esq., Glyndwr, 

St. Asaph 
Roberts John, Esq., Cross-street 
Roberts Maurice, draper 
Roberts David, Leg-street 
Rogers E., Church-street 
Roberts John Askew, Bailey 

Head 
Rodenhurst Charles, Whittington 
Roderick William, Esq., surgeon 
Redrobe James, Royal Oak 
Roberts Miss, Brook-st. Cottage 
Roberts R., gas proprietor 
Roberts E., Willow-street 
Roberts William Whitridge, 

Melbourne, Australia 
Reed Mrs., London 
Ruscoe John, Horse Shoe Inn 

Salwey Rev. Thomas, Vicar of 

Oswestry 
Sabine Charles, Esq., solicitor 
Smith Frederick William, Esq., 

Ruthin (3 copies) 
Smale William, chemist 
Sharwood Messrs. S. andT., 120, 

Aldersgate-street, London (2 

copies) 
Saunders George James, chemist 
Sage Mrs. Catherine, Middleton- 

road 
Smith Captain, Dinas Mowddy 
Smith Henry, Supervisor, Inland 

Revenue 
Savin Thomas, draper 
Stokes Mrs., Rock Ferry 
Sides Miss Sarah, Fron, Rhuabon 
Sissons Henry, stationer, Worksop, 

Notts 
Shaw Henry, ironmonger, Work- 
sop, Notts 
Smith Benjamin, innkeeper, 

Norton, Notts 



LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 



Tipton Edward Blakeway, 
Esq., Distributor of Stamps for 
Shropshire and North Wales 

Thomas Edward Wynne, Esq., 
Cross 

Tomkies John, Esq., Manchester (2 
copies) 

Thomas Rev John, Liverpool 

Thomas John, maltster 

Tucker St. Felix, Esq , H.M.C., 
West Derby-road, Liverpool 

Taylor John, shoemaker 

Tyley Thomas, Sun Inn 

Thomas Henry, Coney Green 

Thompson John, Leg- street 

Towers Mr., Angel Hotel, Dale- 
street, Liverpool 

Thompson Thomas, Chester 

V£NABLEsRoWLANDjONES,Esq., 

Oakhurst 
Vaughan Robert Chambre, Esq., 

Burlton, Shrewsbury 
Venables Mrs. Eliz., Whittington 

West FREDERicKRiciiARD,Esq. 

M.P., Ruthin Castle 
West Frederick Myddleton, Esq. 
Williams Edward, Esq., Lloran 

House (4 copies,) 



Wilding John Powell, Esq., 

Montgomery 
Whalley George Hammond, Esq., 

Plasmadoc 
Waite George, Esq., New Burling- 
ton-street, London 
Williams Rev. Rt., Rhydycroesau 
Webster Benjamin Esq., Adelphi 

Theatre, Strand, London 
Wood Richard, Leg^street 
Woods Richard, farmer, Osberton, 

Worksop 
Williams J. Vincent, Accountant 
Wright Edmund, Esq., Halston 
Wynn Edward, Black-gate 
Williams Edward, Belle Vue, 

Wrexham 
Williams Rt., draper (2 copies) 
Williams Samuel, The Llys 
Winter John, Chirk 
Webb Miss J. C„ Melbourne, 

Australia 
Windsor William, Babin's Wood 
Windsor Samuel, Powis Castle 
Wilson William, upholsterer 
Williams G. H., Esq., The Lymes 
Williams William, Esq., 295, 

Kent- St., Southwark, London 
Williams Michael, Railway Station 
Whitridge Mr,, bookseller, Carlisle 



%nfax. 











Page 


Agricultural Statistics 




.. 




. 205 


Album Monasterium 




• . 


. . . 


3 


Aldermen and Common-Councilmen 


. . • 


. 166 


Alfred the Great 




. . . , 


. , . 


. 17 


Ancient Customs 




. , . . 


• . • 


. 191 


Ancient Houses 


•• 


• • .. 


.. 


. 185 


Ancient Relics 




.. 


.. 


. 186 


Angling 




• • . . 


• 


. 209 


Aston Hall 




. . 


, . . 


. 242 


Attack on the town 


•• 


.. 


.. 


. 65 


Baptist Chapel 




• • • . 


• • » 


. 155 


Banks . . 




.. 


. . 


. 100 


Battle of Oswestry 


.. 






6 


Belmont 




.. 




. 285 


Benevolent Institutions 


. . 


• • • • 


• . . 


. 119 


Bethesda Chapel 




. . 


. 


. 157 


Blanc-Minster 


. . 


■ . 


• • . 


3 


Bleddyn ab Cynvyn 




.. 


. 


. 14 


Biography 




. . 




. 223 


Botany of the Parish 




. . . . . 


. 


. 213 


Bray, Dr. Thomas 


. , 




. . 


. 224 


British Period 




. . . . . 




4 


British Schools 


. . 


. . 


. . • 


. 114 


Broom Hall 




.. 




. 289 


Brunswick Dynasty 




. . 


• . • 


. 88 


Brynkinalt 




.. 




. 243 


Cadwaladr's reign . . 




. . • • . 


. . 


8 


Cae Nef 




. . . , 


• • • 


6 


Carreg Hofa Castle 




. . . . . 


, . 


. 257 


Castle of Oswestry 


.. 


• • 


.. 15 


- 172 


Overton . . 




. . . . 




. 15 


Ceiriog, the •• 


.. 


.. 


.. 


. 312 


Civil Wars 




• • . . . 




. 61 


Charitable Donations 


, . 




• • • 


. 121 


Church or Chapel-Fielc 




.. 




6 





INDEX. 




Church Grant 






.. 30 


Charles I., Character of 






..62 


Charter, First Royal 




. 


.. 33 


Charter of Charles II. 






.. 78 


Charter the Third 




. 


.. 47 


Chirk 


.. 


.. 


.. 291 


Chirk Castle 






.. 244 


Clawdd Coch 




. . 


..259 


Coed Euloe, Battle of 






.. 21 


Cranage's Daring 






..66 


Crogen, Battle of . . 






.. 23 


Croes-Oswallt (Oswald's 


Cross) 


. . 


.. 3 


Croes Wylan 




.. 


.. 54 


Death of Oswald 


. . 


. . 


.. .. 7 


Derivation of Name, &c. 




. . 


.. 2 


Derwen 


.. 


.. 


.. 285 


Dispensary and Baths 




.. 


.. 117 


Dissenting Places of Worship 


.. 


.. 152 


Dovaston, John Freeman 


Milward 




.. 224 


Drenewydd 


•• 


.. 


.. 289 


Ecclesiastical History 




. 


.. 132 


English Period 




. . 


.. 21 


Extension Line (Oswestry and Newtown) Railway 


.. 198 


Famine 


. . 


. . • • 


.. .. 57 


Felton West 


. . 




.. 274 


Fernhill 




.. 


.. 258 


Fitz-Alan, William 






.. 15 


Fletcher, Philip Lloyd 






..16 


Fitz-Gwarine 






.. 17 


Free Grammar School 




. . 


..107 


Friendly Societies . . 


.. 


.. 


.. 131 


Gas-works . . 




. . • . 


..104 


Gates 




* . 


.. 93 


Genealogical Table 


.. 


.. 


.. 178 


Geology, &c. 






.. 221 


Glorious Age 




. . 


..89 


Glyndwr Insurrection 




. . 


.. 36 


Reverses 


. . 


. . . . 


. . 49 


Death of . . 


, . 


• . • 


.. 50 


Great Western Railway Company 


. . 


..195 


Greenfield Lodge 






.. 274 


Griddle Gate • • 


.. 




.. 137 


Grufydd ab Cynan . . 




. . 


.. 15 


Guto (y Glyn) 




.. 


..226 


Halston 


. . 


• • . 


.. 249 


Hen Dinas 




. . . . 


5 


Hengoed 






.. 272 


Hotels 


. . 


. . 


..107 


House of Industry . . 




. 


.. 119 


Humphreys, Humphrey, 


D.D. 


.. 


..227 



INDEX. 



Huntington, Execution of . . 
Hywel Dda (the Welsh Justinian) 

Independent Methodist Chapel 

Ingratitude of (Common Wealth) Parliament 

Invasion of Wales 

Jones, Thomas 

King Oswald 

Knockin 

Kynaston, Humphrey 

Le Strange, Roger .. 

Lighting 

Lodge, the 

Llanforda . . 

Llangollen Vale 

Llanymynech < . 

Llanyblodwel 

Llansilin 

Lloyd, Colonel 

Lloyd, Bishop 

Llynclys (or Llynclis) Pool *. ** 

Lupus, Hugh .- . 

Llwyd, Edward « . 

Llywarch Hen 

Llywelyn ab Jorwerth 

Madog .. .. e . 

Maelor ... . . . . 

Marrow's Assault .. 

Marches Lordships . . 

Margery Bruce 

Markets and Fairs . . t . 

Markets 

Maserfield 

Mathrafal 

Maud Verdon 

Maurice, William 

Mayors, List of 

Mayor's Blunders 

Mediolanum *. 

Montgomery, Roger de .. 

Morda, the 

Morlas, the 

Morus, Hugh .. . . tt 

Monuments within the Church 

in the Church-yard. . 
in the New Church-yard . • 
Morva Rhuddlan . . ... 

Mortimers, the 
Mount Pleasant 

Municipal and Civil Government 
. . . . Officers 





.. 35 


.. 


.. 13 




.. 157 


.. 


.. 73 




.. 21 




.. 227 




5 




.. 253 




.. 228 


. , 


.. 17 




.. 96 




.. 273 




.. 260 




.. 292 




.. 254 




.. 262 




.. 261 




.. 63 




.. 83 




.. 211 




. .. 16 


. . 


.. 230 




8 




.. 27 




.. 15 




.. 15 




.. 69 




.. 17 




.. 180 


.. 


.. 97 




102-3 




.. 7 




... 9 




.. 15 




.. 231 




.. 164 




..85 




.. 259 




.. 16 




.. 212 


. 


.. 212 




.. 231 




.. 139 




.. 14 


. 


.. 147 




.. 113 


. 


.. 31 


.. 


.. 290 




.. 158 


.. 


.. 163 



INDEX. 



Murage, the . . . . . . . . . . 29 

Myddelton, Sir Thomas .. .. .. ,. .< 77 

Mytton, Major- General .. .. .. ..75 

Mytton, the late John, Esq. .. .. ..- .. 251 

National Schools .. .. .. .. .. 112 

Natural History .. .. .. .. ...205 

Newport, Mr. . . . . . . . . . . 68 

Norfolk, Duke of .. .. .. .. .. 15 

Norman Period .. .. .. .. ..14 

Notabilia .. .. .. .. .... 235 

Oakhurst .. •• •• •• ••• .. 290 

Offa's Dyke .. .. .. .. ..10 

Old Chapel .. .. .. .. .... 152 

Oswald's Well •• .. .. .. .. 189 

Oswestry Race-course .. .. .. .... 10 

Castle, Burning of .. .. . . ..72 

Government of . . . . . . .... 72 

As it was . . . . . . . . 92 

recent History of •• .. .. .. 181 

Castle Hill .. .. .. .. 177 

Owain Brogyntyn .. .. .. .... 15 

Oswald and Penda . . . . . . 2 

Parliament, the Great .. .. ... ..32 

Parish Church .. .. .. .... 132 

., Sunday School .. .. .. .. 114 

Park Hall •• •• .. .. .. .. 263 

Penda, the Mercian King . . . . . . . . 8 

Pengwern . . . . . . . . .... 9 

Pentre Pant •• .. .. .. .. 290 

Pentre Poeth .. .. .. .... 53 

Penylan .. .. .. •« .* 290 

Perry, the .. .. .. .. .. .. 212 

Plague, records of .. .. .. .. ..55 

Plot to remove the markets .. .. .. ..59 

Poor Rate Return — Oswestry town and parish (1855) . . . . 240 

Population .. .. .. .. .... 204 

Porkington .. .. .. .. .. 266 

Post Office .. .. .. .. .... 99 

Powys Vadog .. .. .. .. ..14 

Preesgwene House .. .. .. *« ..273 

Primitive Methodist Chapel .. .. .. .. 157 

Public Establishments and Institutions .. .. ..98 

Quinta, the .. .. .. .. .. .. 274 

Railway Communication .. .. .. .. 194 

Restoration, the .. .. .. .... 76 

'Review of Ancient History .. .. .. ..7 

Revolution, the .. .. .. .... 86 

Reynolds, John . . . . . . . . . . 232 

Richard II., death of . . . . .... 34 

Rivers.. .. .. .. .. ..209 



INDEX. 




Rhyd-y-croesau 


.. 290 


Rhyd-y-croesau Church 


.. 150 


Roberts, the Rev. Peter 


.. 232 


Rug 


..15 


Sacheverell, Dr 


.. 86 


Salter, Mr. Robert 


..234 


Savings' Bank 


.. 101 


Saxon Period 


9 


Selattyn 


.. 269 


Shrewsbury, the Battle of . . . . 


..37 


Siarter Cwtta, the Short Charter 


.. 24 


Site of the town 


.. 91 


Sketches of the Environs of Oswestry 


.. 241 


Social Improvement 


..88 


Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor 


.. 129 


Spot, Dick 


..233 


St. Martin's 


.. 272 


Stamp Office 


.. 101 


Statistics 


.. 201 


Streets 


..95 


Sweeney Hall 


.. 291 


Tenants' Service 


.. 48 


Theatre 


..104 


Topographical History 


.. 90 


Town Walls .. .; 


.. .. 184 


Tre'r Cadeiriau 


3 


Tre'r Fesen .. 


6 


Trefaldwyn 


.. 13 


Trefonen Church 


.. ..149 


Tre Meredydd 


.. 14 


Trevor, Sir John 


..159 


Trinity Church 


.. 144 


Tyn-y-Rhos 


.. 278 


Visit of Baldwin and Giraldus 


.. 25 


Vicars, List of 


.. 151 


"Walter the Stewart 


.. 179 


Watt's Dyke 


11-12-13 


Welsh Cloth Market 


..51 


Wesleyan Methodist Chapel 


.. 156 


Whittington 


.. 275 


William the Conqueror 


.. 10 


Wood Hill Hall 


.. 291 


Wynnstay 


.. 286 


Young Men's Institute 


.. 115 


Zion Chapel . . 


..152 



Sllratrattmm 



THE TOWN. 



Beatrice Gate ... 
Church Gate and Avenue... 
Corn Market and Street Views 
Dispensary and Public Baths 
Free Grammar School 
Griddle Gate ... 
New Gate 
National Schools 



Page 
.. 94 



(facing the Title-page) — 

... 118 

... (facing) 107 

... 137 

... 93 

... 113 

Oswestry Castle (from an ancient drawing belonging to an inhabitant of 

Dudleston) ... ... ... ... ... (facing) 172 

The Old Chapel ... ... ... ... ... ... 155 

Parish Church... ... ... ... ... ... (facing) 132 

Powis Market, Guildhall, and Bailey Head ... ... ... (facing) 103 

St. Oswald's Well ... ... ... ... ... ... 190 

Trinity Church... ... ... ... ... ... ... 148 



THE ENVIRONS. 



Brynkinalt 
Chirk Castle ... 
Halston 

Llanymynech Church 
Park Hall 
Porkington 
Selattyn Church 
Whittington Castle 
Wynnstay 



(facing) 243 
(facing) 244 
(facing) 249 

... 255 
(facing) 263 
(facing) 266 

... 271 
(facing) 281 
(facing) 287 



litortj nf #>»Nwtaj. 




celebrated writer has said, that "History is philosophy 
^teaching by example." Local History was doubtless 
included in the reflection of the distinguished essayist, when he 
penned the memorable sentence, which has for years past 
been adopted as a national maxim. In Local History we 
have handed down to' us facts and fiction, both grave and 
gay ; traditions and customs illustrative of popular habits 
and manners ; records of national edicts and social laws ; 
municipal mandates, and parochial practice ; doleful notes of 
superstition and ignorance, with gratifying statistics of the 
progress of truth and enlightenment ; pleasing reports of the 
advancement of science and art, mechanical ingenuity, and 
industrial pursuits ; and, speaking comprehensively, with a 
keen glance at the past, we descry enough, in the chequered 
examples of byegone times, to help us on in wisdom's ways. 
With these preliminaries, let us now lead our readers 
pleasantly onward through the devious paths and labyrinths 
of Oswestry's varied history, beguiling them, perchance, by 
the way, with all that is agreeable pertaining to the Ancient 
and Loyal Borough, which, from it" antiquity, its scenes of 
martial daring and prowess, the tranquil beauty of its sur- 
rounding landscapes, and its primitive, as well as modern 
1 B 



HISTORY OF OSWESTRY. 

relation to some of the sweetest spots of Cambria, has 
commanded the admiration and homage of historians, painter 
and poets. 

©ertbatton of &amz, Set* 

The derivation of the name of the Borough is still, and 
perhaps ever will be, involved in obscurity. As a place of 
retreat for the Cymry, or ear]y Britons, when chased from 
the south by the Roman invaders, it is not unlikely to have had 
a primitive name that has been lost in the flood of ages. 
Pennant, whose industry and historical research have earned 
for him lasting fame, dates the commencement of its history in 
the Saxon period, not anterior to the celebrated conflict at 
Oswestry between Oswald, the Christian King of the North- 
umbrians, and Penda, the Pagan King of the Mercians, 
which occurred in the year 642. Other Welsh biographical 
and historical writers trace the origin of its name to a much 
earlier period, and contend that Oswal, a son of Cunedda 
Wledig, sovereign of the Stratclyde Britons, and who lived 
in the early part of the fifth century, received from his 
father, as a tribute for special military services, an extensive 
grant of land, called from him Osweiling, in which the present 
town of Oswestry is situated. The coincidence is extra- 
ordinary that two distinguished chieftains should have 
flourished — although upwards of two centuries had rolled 
between their reigns — bearing names so similar to each 
other, that from either, it may be presumed, the town could, 
not inappropriately, have derived its present designation. The 
evidence in favour of Oswald's right to the sponsorship of 
Oswestry is, however, in our opinion, so strong, that we 
must accord the honour to the Northumbrian Monarch, until 
the Cambrian or British claim shall be more authoritatively 
established. In the battle between Oswald and Penda, history 
informs us that the former was defeated and fell ; that the 
barbarian victor ordered that the body of the slain monarch 
should be cut in pieces, and " stuck on stakes dispersed over 
2 



DERIVATION OF NAME. 

the field as so many trophies ; or, according to the ancient 
verses that relate the legend, his head and hands only were 
thus exposed : — 

' Three crosses, raised at Penda's dire command, 
Bore Oswald's royal head and mangled hands.' " 

After this battle the Welsh, or Cymry, (who seemed to have 
possessed for some time the district including Oswestry,) 
had called it Croes-Oswallt (Oswald's Cross), in allusion to 
Penda's ignominious exposure of Oswald's slaughtered body. 
The spot where the battle was fought is said to have borne the 
name of Mae shir (the long field), as marking the length and 
obstinacy of the conflict. In the fulness of the Saxon 
period the town was known as Oswald's Tree, in evident 
reference to Oswald's death, and subsequently, to the present 
day, "without let or impediment," by the name of Oswestry. 

Industrious and talented antiquarian writers have given 
to the town other names and derivations. For instance, we 
are told that it was termed by the Saxons Blanc-Minster, 
White- Minster, Album-Monasterium, from its " fair and white 
Monastery," whilst the Cymry, or " Old Britons," as Williams 
denominates them, " called the town TreW Fesen, TreW 
Cadeiriau, the Town of the Oak Chairs," or, as another 
writer has it, " the Town of Great Oaks." These terms bear 
special allusion to Oswald's unfortunate arrival in this dis- 
trict ; for the ancient seal of the town, cut in fyrass, repre- 
sents King Oswald sitting in his robes on a chair, holding a 
sword in his right hand, and an oak branch in his left, with 
the words around, " De Oswaldestre sigillum commune." In 
repeating the long and tedious catalogue of names and deriva- 
tions, it will be proper to mention that one writer renders the 
designation TreW Cadeiriau as follows : — " Oswestry was 
called by the Britons TreW Cadeiriau, literally the Town of 
Chairs, or Seats, commanding an extensive view, (as Cadair 
Idris, the chair of Idris, and others,) as there are several 
eminences commanding such views in the neighbourhood." 
3 



REVIEW OF ANCIENT HISTORY. 

Here is a chapter on civic nomenclature and varied deriva- 
tion, very curious, perhaps, to many readers, but little 
edifying to those who ask with the poet, " What's in a 
name ?" And yet, ancient civic names, like many other 
ancient relics, have valuable and salutary uses. They are as 
finger-posts to the Past ; in some instances inviting us to the 
honest path of truth and honour ; in others deterring us from 
the rugged ways of ignorance and error. In almost all res- 
pects they enable us to institute comparisons and form con- 
trasts between men and manners in ancient and modern days. 
Whilst looking at such names, we are too frequently reminded 
of times when Might overcame Right, and are gently led with 
thankful spirits to the Present, when, in our own happy and 
highly-privileged age, every Briton can sit " under his vine 
and under his fig-tree," none daring to make him afraid. 



REVIEW OF ANCIENT HISTORY. 
Wqz Britigfj f motr* 



°4& . • • 

1 kor ages the site of the town, with the surrounding district, 



was the theatre of brutal contention, rapine, and aggran- 
disement. Here, as in the Border-Lands of Scotland, it was 

" The good old rule, 
* * * the simple plan, 

That they should take who have the power, 
And they should keep who can." 

Education had not spread her benign wings over the people, 
to hush them into peace ; and too commonly they who 
possessed the strongest physical power and the wildest bar- 
barism became, in turns, " Lords of the Ascendant." There 
is no record extant that the Roman invaders of Britain 
pitched their tents within the Oswestrian district ; and yet 
it is more than probable that part of the legion, which traver- 
4 



HEN DINAS. 

•sed from the south of our island, actually touched at 
Llanymynech Hill (a Roman settlement beyond doubt), and 
most likely constituted a portion of the army which, under 
Suetonius, found its way along the mountain-passes of North 
Wales into Anglesey, may have halted there, if the ground 
was pre-occupied by the invaded Britons, or the ancient 
encampment, Hen Dinas, had then stood. We can produce 
nothing more than conjectural evidence of such a visit. 
There is no Roman architecture in the town, to mark the 
presence of the invaders, nor are there Roman relics rich as 
those discovered at Llanymynech. If the Britons occupied 
Hen Dinas during the Roman visit to the district, the des- 
truction of that encampment may have been accomplished by 
the Roman marauders ; and yet it is believed by some that the 
Britons possessed Oswestry, intact, from before the death of 
Oswald to the invasion of Offa. A Roman invasion of Oswes- 
try, and the real history of Hen Dinas (or Old Oswestry, as 
it is termed,) are therefore alike still involved in mystery. 

On this " vexed question " we may add the following : — 
" Remarking to a gentleman," says Mr. Hutton, " that I had 
gleaned some anecdotes relative to Oswald, he asked me if I 
had seen Old Oswestry, where, he assured me, the town had 
formerly stood. I smiled, and answered him in the negative. 
He then told me, ' that the town had travelled three quarters 
of a mile to the place where it had taken up its present 
abode.' This belief, I found had been adopted by others 
with whom I conversed." 

The earliest sovereign possession of Oswestry, noted in the 
Welsh historic page, was in the beginning of the fifth century, 
as already referred to. Oswal, son of Cunedda Wledig, is 
there represented to have been its first monarch. The Welsh 
Chroniclers, however, furnish no details of his reign ; and no 
event connected with the town is subsequently recorded, till 
the memorable one of King Oswald's attack upon the Mercian 
King Penda, August 5th, A. D. 642. Oswald and Oswy 



OSWALD AND PENDA. 

were sons of Adelfrid, the seventh King of Northumberland. 
These young Princes had been driven out of the kingdom of 
their father by Cadwallawn, who had before been expelled 
from Wales, his rightful possession, by Edwin. Oswald, 
after seventeen years' exile in Scotland, was restored to his 
kingdom by the overthrow and death of Cadwallawn. During 
his exile Oswald is said to have been baptized in a Christian 
church. He brought with him from Scotland a Christian 
bishop, Aidan, who preached Christianity to the people, and 
Oswald assisted him in his ministrations. The young 
Northumbrian King appears to have been zealous in the 
Christian cause, both in the pulpit and the field. Penda was 
a pagan prince, and had united with Cadwallawn in laying 
Northumbria waste. Oswald's Christianity was not strong 
enough, it would seem, to subdue his revenge against Penda. 
The two monarchs at length met, a bloody conflict ensued, 
and Oswald was slain. The site of the closing scene of this 
memorable battle is said to have been a field called Cae Nef 
(Heaven's Field), " situated on the left of the turnpike road 
leading to the Free School." The writer from whom we 
quote mentions, that *" Oswald approached with his army to 
what is called Maes-y-Uan, or Church Field, then open." 
"About four hundred yards west of the church," he adds, "is 
a rising ground, where the battle began. The assailant 
appears to have driven Penda' s forces to a field nearer the 
town, called Cae Nef. Here Oswald fell." These minute 
particulars give increased interest to the combat; but the 
writer does not state any authority for the details. We sup- 
pose it must have been merely traditionary. At the present 
time the sites of Cae Nef, and Church or Chapel Field, are 
well known to most of the inhabitants of the town. Oswald's 
remains were first interred in the monastery of Bradney, in 
Lincolnshire, arid afterwards, in 909, removed to St. Oswald's, 
in Gloucestershire. The memory of the deceased King seems 
to have been held in great veneration, for churches, in various 
parts of the kingdom, still bear his name, as patron saint. 
6 



DEATH OF OSWALD. 

Speed, in his " History of Great Britaine," with his accus- 
tomed quaintness and minute graphic description, sums up 
Oswald's closing scene in the following language : — " But as 
the sunne hath his shadow, and the highest tide her ebhe, so 
Oswald, how holy soeuer, or gouernment how good, had 
emulators that sought his life, and his Countries ruine : for 
wicked Penda the Pagan Mercian, enuying the greatnesse that 
King Oswald bare, raised warres against him, and at a place 
then called Maserfeild, in Shropshire, in a bloudie and sore 
fought battle slew him ; and not therewith satisfied, in bar- 
barous and brutish immanitie, did teare him in peeces, the 
first day of August, and yeere of Christ Iesus six hundred 
forty two, being the ninth of his raigne, and the thirty eighth 
of his age : whereupon the said place of his death is called to 
this day Oswaldstree, a faire Market Towne in the same 
Countie. The dismembred limmes of his body were first 
buried in the Monastery of Bradney, in Lincolnshire, shrined 
with his standard of Gold and Purple erected ouer his Tombe, 
at the industry and cost of his neece Offryd, Q,ueene of Mer- 
eia, wife vnto king Ethelred, and daughter to Oswyn that 
succeeded him. From hence his bones were afterwards 
remooued to Glocester, and there in the north side of the vpper 
end of the Quire in the Cathedrall Church, continueth a faire 
Monument of him, with a Chapell set betwixt two pillers in 
the same Church." 

From the death of Oswald to 777, Oswestry is reported, as 
already mentioned, to have been in undisputed possession of 
the Britons. What its faithful history was during that long 
period we are unable to state. If the Britons did really 
occupy it, no event worthy of record seems to have occurred. 
If the Britons were preserved in peace, no chronicle is handed 
down to us of their social or industrial habits within the 
halycon time. Whether they improved their land, instructed 
their minds in arts useful to their tribe, or were sunk in igno- 
rance, sloth, and selfishness, there is no voice or pen to 



THE BRITISH PERIOD. 

inform us. Three centuries later than this period the domes- 
tic architecture of the Cymry was in the lowest state of 
rudeness. One of the regal mansions of Hywel Dda, their 
great law-giver, was made of peeled rods; the people lived in 
wattled huts ; and a gentleman's hall was valued according 
to the number of posts it contained. These were filled up 
with wattled twigs and clay. The only notice we have of the 
period is in the Welsh Chronicles, and from them we learn 
that Cadwaladr (son of the Cadwallawn who was defeated and 
slain in a battle with King Oswald, near Denisbourne, in 
Northumberland,) the last of the Welsh Princes who assumed 
the title of Chief Sovereign of Britain, reigned over the 
Britons from A. D . 634 to 703, and was succeeded by Idwal 
Iwrch, or the Roe. In one of the Welsh Triads, Cadwaladr 
is called " one of the three canonized kings of Britain," for 
the protection which he gave to the primitive Christians 
when dispossessed by the pagan Saxons ; and his long reign is 
mentioned as having been peaceable, mainly in consequence, 
we are told, of his mother being sister to Penda, the Mercian 
king. Rhodri Molwynog, a brave and warlike prince, and 
grandson of Cadwaladr, succeeded to the western part of 
Britain about the year 720, and was engaged in constant 
hostilities with the Saxons until near the close of his life, in 
755. These dottings from Welsh history show that the 
Britons had not peace within their borders during the long 
period already mentioned, and that " battles and murders " 
were still the constant theme and employment of the Britons 
and Saxons. It is hardly probable that the Britons posses- 
sed this district peaceably, and not unlikely that they still had 
to fight for their lives and property, inch by inch, and foot 
to foot. War, even in the present day, is the curse of 
nations ; it fosters animosities, engenders ignorance and vice, 
and brutalizes man. What, then, must have been the effect 
of constant wars and incursions upon the British people by 
their invaders ? The Britons had among them, about this 
period, their great bard, Llywarch Hen, a man ranked among 



THE SAXON PERIOD. 

the wise bards of the Court of Arthur, and whose poetical 
effusions display profound talent, if not genius, for so rude 
an age ; but we have no proofs that they profited much by 
his vigorous instructions, although his life was lengthened 
out to one hundred and fifty years. The art of printing was 
unknown in Llywarch's days, otherwise his humanizing pro- 
ductions might have wrought peace and harmony amongst 
both the oppressors and the oppressed. 

Wyz Saxon f eriotr. 

The period had now arrived when the sovereignty of the 
Britons was so powerfully disputed that they were compelled 
to yield to the cohort strength of the impetuous Offa, King of 
the Mercians. Mercia was the largest of the Anglo-Saxon 
kingdoms, and London was its capital. Offa passed the 
Severn with a mighty force, drove the Britons from their 
fertile and lovely plains, and limited the princedom of Powys 
to the western side of the celebrated ditch still known by the 
name of Offa's Dyke. Offa enjoyed a victorious reign, from 
the year 755 to 794. During that period the finest part of 
Powys became a confirmed part of the Mercian territory, and 
Shropshire was permanently annexed to England. Owen 
and Blakeway, in their invaluable " History of Shrewsbury " 
remark, " Though there can be no doubt that the cession of 
Shropshire was obtained from the British Prince (Eliseg, it is 
supposed,) only by the military preponderance of the Saxon, 
yet it seems equally certain that it must finally have been the 
subject of a pacific negociation. A work of so much labour 
as Offa's Dyke, evidently designed, according to his practice 
in other places, as the line of demarkation between two 
kingdoms, could never have been carried into execution 
without the concurrence of the sovereign on each side of that 
boundary. * * * * The prince, thus despoiled of the 
fairest portion of his dominions, retired to Mathrafal, on the 
Vyrnwy, five miles beyond Welshpool, while Pengwern, 
9 



OFFAS DYKE. 

degraded from the dignity of a metropolis, passed under the 
yoke of an English conqueror, and henceforth to be known by 
the name of Shrewsbury, a name of Saxon origin." 

Offa's Dyke, called by the Britons Clawdd Offa, ex- 
tended nearly a hundred miles along the mountain border of 
Wales, from the Clwydian hills to the mouth of the Wye. 
Part of the Dyke may be traced at Brachy Hill, and Leint- 
wardine, in Herefordshire, continuing northward from 
Knighton, in Radnorshire, over part of Shropshire, entering 
Montgomeryshire between Bishop's Castle and Newtown. 
It again appears in Shropshire, near Llanymynech, crosses 
Cern-y-bwch (the Oswestry race-course), descends to the 
Ceiriog, near Chirk, where it again enters Wales, and ter- 
minates in the parish of Mold, beyond which no traces of it 
are discovered. Offa may have imagined that the Clwydian 
hills, and the deep valley that lies at their base, would serve 
as a continuance of the prohibitory line. Pennant tells us, 
that in all parts the Dyke was constructed on the Welsh side, 
and that there are numbers of small artificial mounts, the 
sites of small forts along its course. In the MS. " Historia 
Wallica" we are informed, that the work of forming this 
Dyke, forty feet in height, occupied a numerous band of men, 
*' able and accustomed to work in the fields," more than seven 
years. This great line of demarcation answered but little 
purpose as a line of defence, or even of boundary. The Border 
Lands were still the scenes of sanguinary contests, and supe- 
rior force alone repelled the Britons. Severe laws were 
enacted against any that should transgress the limits prescribed 
by Offa; and one of these enactments declared, that "the 
Welshman who was found in arms on the Saxon side of the 
Dyke was to lose his right hand." These laws, however, 
were unheeded by the Britons. They deeply felt their 
injuries, and concerted means of revenge, and, as they hoped, 
emancipation. They formed an alliance with the kings of 
Sussex and Northumberland, broke through the boundary, 
10 



MORVA RHUDDLAN. 

attacked Offa's camp, slew great numbers, and the Mercian 
king himself narrowly escaped with a small remnant of his 
army. On this disaster Offa retired into his own dominions, 
meditating vengeance. Hostages having been given to him 
by the Britons, a short time before, during a brief period of 
peace, he now dealt out to them severe treatment, strictly 
confining them, and selling, or reserving for perpetual slavery, 
their wives and children. Still breathing destruction he 
marched into the confines of Wales with a powerful army, but 
for years was gallantly repelled by the Britons. At length 
the contending forces met on Rhuddlan Marsh (now the scene 
of peaceful arts, the Chester and Holyhead Railway passing 
over it), and the Britons, under the command of Caradog, were 
entirely defeated with terrific slaughter, their leader being 
slain in the conflict. The fury of the Saxon prince did not 
cease with victory. He savagely massacred the men, women, 
and children who fell into his hands ; and, according to tra- 
dition, the remaining Britons, who had escaped the enemy's 
sword, fleeing with haste over the marsh, perished in the 
waters by the flowing of the tide. This tragedy has been 
carried down to posterity by a plaintive Welsh melody, called 
Morva Rhuddlan, the notes of which are amongst the most 
touching and deeply-pathetic of Cambrian minstrelsy. 

Having traced Offa's Dyke, it is necessary to describe the 
course of Watt's Dyke, as the space between these two great 
lines of demarcation was deemed neutral ground both by the 
Britons and their invaders, and subsequently, during the 
Norman period, became part of what is denominated the 
Marches, although it is difficult to define correctly the precise 
extent of territory they occupied. Watt's Dyke is supposed 
by various writers to have been constructed anterior to the 
time of Offa. Its course is marked by Pennant as follows : — 
" It appears at Maesbury, in the parish of Oswestry, and ter- 
minates at the river Dee, below Basingwerk Abbey. The 
southern end of the line is lost in morassy grounds ; but was 
11 



watt's dyke. 



probably continued to the river Severn. It extends its 
course from Maesbury to the Mile Oak [on the old road from 
Oswestry to Shrewsbury] ; from thence through a field [now 
belonging to Edward Williams, Esq., Solicitor, of Oswestry], 
called Maes-y-garreg-llwyd, between two remarkable pillars 
of unhewn stone [strongly resembling Druidic altar stones] ; 
passes by the town [below the Shelf-bank Field], and from 
thence to Old Oswestry, and by Pentreclawdd to Gobowen, 
the site of a small fort called Bryn-y- Castell, in the parish of 
Whittington ; runs by Prys Henlle and Belmont ; crosses the 
Ceiriog, between Brynkinallt and Pont-y-blew Forge, and the 
Dee, below Nant-y-Bela; from whence it passes through 
Wynnstay Park, by another Pentreclawdd, to Erddig, where 
there was a strong fort on its course ; from Erddig it runs 
above Wrexham, near Melin Puleston, by Dolydd, Maesgwyn, 
Rhos-ddu, Croes-oneiras, &c. ; goes over the Alun, and 
through the township of Llai, to Rhydin, in the county of 
Flint, above which is Caer-estyn, a British post ; from hence 
it runs by Hope church along the side of Molesdale, which it 
quits towards the latter place, and turns to Mynydd Sychdyn, 
Monachlog, near Northop, by Northop Mills, Bryn-Moel, 
Coed-y-Llys, Nant-y-Flint, Cefn-y-Coed, through the Strand 
Fields, near Holywell, to its termination below the Abbey of 
Basingwerk." The Chester and Shrewsbury Railway inter- 
sects these two ancient dykes. At the junction of the branch 
line to Brymbo, Minera, &c, the railway crosses Watt's 
Dyke, and continues to run on the left side of it, travelling 
from Chester, for about fourteen miles, until Gobowen is 
reached, where the line again crosses the dyke ; the superin- 
tendants of modern improvements, especially railway engineers 
and contractors, paying little if any deference to mere anti- 
quities. By this route the railway traveller passes a 
considerable distance on the neutral ground, where alone, for 
many years, the trade and commerce of the Britons, the 
Saxons, and the Danes, were transacted. Offa's Dyke at 
Brymbo is about two miles to the right, from Chester, and 
12 



WATTS DYKE. 

runs parallel with the railway for about eighteen miles* 
Churchyard, in his " Worthies of Wales," thus chronicles, in 
his quaint verse, the use to which the "free ground" was 
applied in early days : — 

"Within two miles, there is a famous thing 

Called Offa's Dyke, that reacheth farre in lengthe; 

All kind of ware the Danes might thither bring; 

It was free ground, and called the Britaines' strength. 

Watt's Dyke, likewise, about the -same was set, 

Between which two, both Danes and Britaines met." 

For many years after Offa's memorable defeat of the 
Britons on Rhuddlan Marsh, the history of the district con- 
veys but little information interesting in the present day. 
" Wars, and rumours of wars," are the only topics on which 
past historians have filled their pages in reference to this 
period. Rhodri Mawr (Rhoderick the Great), one of the 
most celebrated warriors and princes of Wales, succeeded to 
the sovereignty of North Wales and Powys in 843. In the 
year of his succession his territories were invaded by Berthred, 
King of Mercia, whom he defeated with great loss. Rhodri 
left three sons, and, according to the law of gavel-kind, he 
divided his dominions among his children. His son Mervyn 
had the principality of Powys, with the palace of Mathraval. 
His three sons were called y tri thywsog taleithiog, or dia- 
demed princes, from their wearing diadems of gold set with 
precious stones ; and Anarawd, his eldest son, received a 
yearly tribute from the Prince of Powys. Contentions still 
continued, and intestine divisions kept the Britons in as 
violent commotion as if they were battling with their avowed 
enemies on the border. Mervyn did not long enjoy his do- 
minion, as he was slain in 892 by his own subjects, headed by 
his brother Cadell, who took possession of the throne. The 
reign of Cadell was also brief, and his son Hywel Dda (Howel 
the Good) succeeded him. The Welsh Justinian, as Hywel 
has been called, died in 984, deservedly honoured by his 
subjects, and leaving four sons, all of whom perished in the 
desolating wars to which his country soon after fell a prey. 
13 



POWYS VADOG. 

Efje Norman ^ertotr* 

Saxon dominance was now rapidly approaching to its close ; 
and the Britons were about to be exposed to the incursions 
of a new body of invaders, under the usurpation of William, 
surnamed the Conqueror. Bleddyn ab Cynvyn, with his 
brother, obtained in 1062 the sovereignty of North Wales and 
Powys, through the influence of the Saxon King Edward. 
Bitter hostilities subsequently occurred between Bleddyn 
and his kindred ; at length the succession to the whole prin- 
cipality passed from his children, but Powys-land devolved to 
his sons, and came at length entire to Meredydd, the eldest 
born, after the contentions and slaughter incident in those 
days to such partitions. Oswestry, we are told, was called 
Trefred (a contraction of Tre Meredydd, Meredydd's Town), 
in honour of this prince, but after his death the name was soon 
discontinued, and the town resumed its former appellation of 
Oswald's-tree, or Oswestry. His eldest son, Madog, inherited 
from his father the tract known by the name of Powys Vadog, 
which consisted, according to the division of the times, of five 
cantrevs, or hundred townships ; and these were subdivided 
into fifteen commots, or cwmwds : 

CANTREVS. CWMWDS. COUNTIES. 

/'Dinmael Denbighshire. 

Y Barwn, ■{ Edeyrnion Merionethshire. 

^Glyndyfrdwy Ibid. 

( Yale, or lal Denbighshire. 

Y Rhiw, <( Ystrad Alun, or Mold Flintshire. 

VHope Ibid. 

f Merffordd Ibid. 

Uwchnant, -( Maelor Gymraeg, or Bromfield Denbighshire. 

\^Maelor Saesnaeg Flintshire. 

^Croes-Vaen Denbighshire. 

TREFRED, < Tref-y-Waun, or Chirk Ibid. 

^Croes-oswallt, or Oswestry Shropshire. 

f Mochnant-is-Rhaiadr, Cynllaeth, &c. Denbighshire. 

RpAiADR, ■< Nanheudwy Ibid. 

^ Whittington Shropshire. 

14 



FITZ-ALAN. 

To Madog is assigned the honour of erecting the Castle of 
Oswestry. Whether he is entitled to this distinction it would 
be difficult now to prove. Welsh historians assert, that he 
built also the Castles of Overton (Flintshire) and Caereinion, 
and that in the former, which received the additional name of 
Madog, he resided. Powell says of him, that he was "ever 
the King of England's friend, and was one that feared God, 
and relieved the poor." Madog married Susanna, daughter 
of Grufydd ab Cynan, Prince of North Wales, by whom he 
had two sons, Grufydd Maelor and Owain ab Madog. To 
the first he gave the two Maelors, Yale, Hopedale, Nan- 
heudwy, Mochnant-is-Rhaiadr, &c. : to Owain, the land of 
Mechain-is-Coed ; and to his natural son, Owain Brogyntyn, 
a nobleman of distinguished talents, he granted the lordships 
of Edeirnion and Dinmael. The last-named Owain resided 
at Brogyntyn, near Oswestry, now called Porkington, whence 
he assumed his surname. His dagger and cup are still pre- 
served at Rug: and many families in Merionethshire and 
Denbighshire are directly descended from him. Madog's 
second wife was Maud Yerdon, an Englishwoman of noble 
lineage. He died in 1159 at Winchester, whence his body 
was conveyed to Meivod, in Montgomeryshire, where it was 
deposited in the Church of St. Mary, which he himself had 
built some years before. His widow is stated to have been 
married to William Fitz-Alan, Lord of Clun, and he, in right 
of his wife, obtained the town and castle of Oswestry. Fitz- 
Alan was a descendant of Alan, one of the companions of the 
Conqueror, and was the first of his name who bore the title 
of " Baron of Oswaldestre." Alan was progenitor of the 
entire noble family which from him derived the name of 
Fitz-Alan, and for many succeeding centuries were the 
most distinguished personages in Shropshire. From this 
powerful race is descended the present Duke of Norfolk, who 
holds the title of "Baron of Oswaldestre," in addition to his 
other patrician honours. His Grace's ancestor, Thomas, 
Duke of Norfolk, married Lady Mary, daughter of Henry, 
15 



THE NORMAN PERIOD. 

the last Earl of Arundel named Fitz-Alan, 13th Elizabeth, 
when the barony of " Oswaldestre " was conveyed to the 
Duke. 

The Norman conquest was " a heavy blow and great dis- 
couragement" to the impetuous Britons. During that 
eventful period almost the whole of Shropshire was parcelled 
out, and bestowed by William the Conqueror on his kinsman, 
Roger de Montgomery, as a reward for his great military 
services in the conquest. The Earl of Shrewsbury, whilst 
thus taking possession of Powys, among his other newly- 
acquired lands, brought under his subjection the town and 
castle of Trefaldwyn, (from Baldwin, Montgomery's lieu- 
tenant,) which fortress he strongly fortified, and afterwards 
called it after his own family name. Hugh Lupus, Earl of 
Chester, (the founder of the Grosvenor family,) likewise did 
homage for Engiefleld and Rhuvoniog, with the country ex- 
tending along the sea shore from Chester to the waters of 
Conway. Ralph Mortimer did the same for the territory of 
Elvel ; as did Hugh de Lacie for the lands of Eulas ; and 
Eustace Cruer for Mold and Hopedale. Brady relates out of 
Domesday, that William the Conqueror granted to Hugh 
Lupus North Wales in farm, at the rent of £40 per annum, 
besides Rhos and Rhuvoniog. These Norman Barons erected 
fortresses on their lands, and, so far as they were able, settled 
in them English and Norman defenders. In a MS., relating 
to the Welsh Marches, from the library of the late Philip 
Lloyd Fletcher, Esq., of Gwernhaylod, in Flintshire, it is 
stated " that about this time, Bristol, Gloucester, Worcester, 
Shrewsbury, and Chester were rebuilt and fortified, and 
formed a line of military posts upon the frontiers. Thus the 
last asylum of the Welsh was invested on almost every side, 
or broken into by their enemies. The kingdom of North 
Wales, reduced to the island of Anglesey, to Merioneth and 
Caernarvonshire, and to part of the present counties of Den- 
bigh and Cardigan, still preserved the national character and 
16 



THE MARCHES. 

importance. The natives of Wales, aided by the virtue and 
courage of their Princes, became more formidable than ever to 
the English ; and at times, as they acquired union with addi- 
tional vigour from despair, their invaders, instead of being able 
to make new conquests, held those which they had already 
obtained by a precarious tenure. William's policy, in giving 
to his barons the power to make such conquests in Wales as 
they were able, led to the erection of the Marches Lordships, 
of which Oswestry formed a part. These lordships consisted 
of more than a hundred petty sovereignties, and were the 
fruitful source of innumerable disorders, till their partial 
suppression in the reign of Henry VIII. Pennant says, that 
William's design was, in establishing these seignories and 
jurisdictions, to give to those whom he had brought over to 
England the power of providing for themselves, and to reduce, 
at the same time, the opposition of the Welsh people. The 
precise extent of the Marches Lordships it is difficult, as we 
have already said, to define. During the Saxon period the 
Severn was considered the ancient boundary between England 
and Wales. The lands conquered by Offa on the western 
side of that river were annexed to Mercia, and afterwards 
incorporated with the monarchy by Alfred the Great. The 
term Marches signifies generally the limits or space between 
England and Wales, of which the western part of Shropshire, 
Oswestry included, formed a principal portion. Of the 
Norman Barons, besides the first Earl of Shrewsbury, who 
did homage for royal grants of territory, were Fitzalan for 
Oswestry and Clun ; Fitz-Gwarine for Whittington ; and 
Roger le Strange for Ellesmere. The tenure by which the 
Baronies Marches were held was, that " in case of war 
the lords should send to the army a certain number of their 
vassals ; that they should garrison their respective castles, and 
keep the Welsh in subjection. In return for these services 
the lords had an arbitrary and despotic power in their own 
domains. They had the power of life and death, in their 
respective courts, in all cases except those of high treason. 
17 C 



THE MARCHES. 

In every frontier manor a gallows was erected ; if any Welsh- 
man passed the boundary line fixed between the two coun- 
tries, he was immediately seized and hanged. Every town 
within the Marches had a horseman armed with a spear, who 
was maintained for the express purpose of taking these offen- 
ders. If any Englishman was caught on the Welsh side of 
the line, he suffered a similar fate. The Welsh considered 
everything that they could steal from their English neigh- 
bours as lawful prize." After the conquest of Wales by 
Edward I. the Baronies Marches were continued, but under 
regulations somewhat different from the former. In the reign 
of Edward IV. they were governed by a Lord President and 
Council, consisting of the Chief Justice of Chester, and three 
Justices of Wales. In cases of emergency other parties were 
called in. By a statute passed in the reign of Henry VIII. 
the principality and dominion of Wales became formally 
annexed to England ; and all the Welsh laws, and most of their 
peculiar customs and tenures, were by this statute entirely 
abolished. By this statute also four new counties were 
formed, Brecknockshire, Denbighshire, Montgomeryshire, 
and Radnorshire. The Marches became annexed partly to 
England, and partly to the new counties of Wales. The Presi- 
dent and Council of the Marches were however allowed to con- 
tinue as before, and their general court was held at Ludlow. 
A statute was passed in the reign of William III., by which 
the government of the entire principality was divided between 
two peers of the realm, on whom was conferred the title of 
Lords Lieutenant of North and South Wales. From that 
period the Lordship Marches were entirely abolished. 

There is another salient point in the history of Wales 
which it will not be inappropriate here to mention. Many 
of our readers have heard or read of the Royal Tribes of 
Wales. " The five regal Tribes, and the respective repre- 
sentative of each, were considered as of royal blood. The 
fifteen common Tribes, all of North Wales, and the respective 
18 



THE ROYAL TRIBES. 

representative of each, formed the nobility, were lords of 
distinct districts, and bore some hereditary office in the palace. 
Grufydd ab Cynan, Prince of North Wales, Rhys ab Tewdwr, 
of South Wales, and Bleddyn ab Cynvyn, of Powys, regula- 
lated both these classes, but did not create them ; as many of 
the persons, placed at their head, lived before their times, and 
some after. Their precedence, as it stands, is very uncertain, 
and not governed by dates ; the last of them were created by 
Davydd ab Owain Gwynedd, who began his reign in 1169. 
We are left ignorant of the form by which they were called 
to this rank. Mr. Vaughan, of Hengwrt, informs us that 
1 Grufydd ab Cynan, Rhys ab Tewdwr, and Bleddyn ab 
Cynvyn made diligent search after the arms, ensigns, and 
pedigrees of their ancestors, the nobility and kings of the 
Britons. What they discovered by their pains in any paper 
or records, was afterwards by the Bards digested, and put into 
books, and they ordained five Royal Tribes, there being only 
three before, from whom their posterity to this day can derive 
themselves, and also fifteen special Tribes, of whom the gentry 
of North Wales are for the most part descended!' " 

It will be seen from the foregoing pages that we have 
abstained from all minute detail in our description of the 
continued struggles for mastery between the Welsh and their 
own kindred, as well as of the strife for power and dominion 
between the Cambrian princes and their foreign invaders. 
These scenes in the history of Wales are nothing more, to use 
the eloquent language of Warrington, than " a recital of re- 
ciprocal inroads and injuries — a series of objects unvaried and 
of little importance, which pass the eye in a succession of 
cold delineations, like the evanescent figures produced by the 
camera obscura. The characters and events are not brought 
distinctly into view, nor are they sufficiently explained, to 
enable the historian to judge of their proportions, their beauty, 
or defects ; whence he can neither develope the principles of 
action, nor trace the connection of causes with effects, by 
19 



WILLIAM FITZ-ALAN. 

leading incidents, or by the general springs which govern 
human affairs." " The story of our country under its native 
princes," observes another impartial writer on Welsh history, 
"is a wretched calendar of crimes, of usurpations, and 
family assassinations ; and in this dismal detail we should 
believe ourselves rather on the Bosphorus than the banks of 
the Dee." The British or Welsh rulers had doubtless much 
to complain of against their Roman, Saxon, and Norman 
invaders ; but their own conduct towards their own people 
— to those who by affinity claimed their protection and 
regard — was quite as guilty as that of their foreign foes. 

Throughout the entire reign of Henry I. we read in the 
Welsh annals of nothing but " a series of retaliated injuries 
arising in regular succession ; evils naturally springing from 
the passions, where they usurp the sword of justice." Henry 
died about the year 1135, and Stephen succeeded to the 
English throne, and was soon embarked in a sea of troubles. 
Engaged in continual hostilities, and in supporting a doubt- 
ful title, he prudently concluded a peace with the Welsh, and 
allowed them to retain the territories they had lately recov- 
ered, free of homage or tribute. The incidents of Stephen's 
reign were marked by no feature of national interest ; and 
the only reference made to it in connection with this district is 
William Fitz-Alan's espousal of the claim made by the 
Empress Maud to the English crown. His union with other 
noblemen, to dethrone Stephen, exposed him to danger, and 
he was compelled to leave the kingdom, abandoning his lands 
and other property to the incensed monarch. Whilst an 
exile from England he remained faithful to the interests of 
the Empress ; and on his return to this country on the death 
of Stephen, and the accession to the throne of Henry II., he 
reaped the reward of his spirit and fidelity, by receiving 
back all his forfeited honours and estates, including the 
Castles of Oswestry and Clun. Of Oswestry Castle we shall 
speak particularly in subsequent pages. Of Clun we may at 
20 



THE INVASION OF WALES. 

present say, that it remained in the direct line of William 
Fitz-Alan down to the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when the 
last Earl died. By the marriage of Mary Fitz-Alan with 
Philip Howard, the son of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, it 
became vested in that noble family. From them it passed to 
the Walcotts, and afterwards, by purchase, to Lord Clive, in 
whose family it continues. The Duke of Norfolk still retains 
the title of " Baron of Clun," as well as that of " Baron of 
Oswaldestre." 

Efje <&tt£li$fy Period 

Henry was an inveterate and formidable enemy to the 
interests of Wales. He speedily employed his utmost force 
in attempting to subjugate the Cambrian people ; and it is 
recorded of Madog ab Meredydd, Prince of Powys, who had 
united with the enemies of his country, that he incited the 
English king to an invasion of North Wales. Henry listened 
to the solicitations of the Powysian prince, and eagerly exerted 
every means for the conquest of the country. He quickly 
raised a powerful army, and marched without delay into 
North Wales. Mathew Paris states that the levy of Henry, 
raised at this time, amounted to 30,000 men. Owain Gwy- 
nedd, in this campaign, gallantly led the Welsh, and in one 
of the actions, at Coed Euloe, near Hawarden, Flintshire, the 
monarch himself, who had encamped near the field of battle, 
escaped from the hands of the Welsh with the greatest 
difficulty. The English forces, having been strengthened, 
pursued the Welsh, and at length Prince Owain, fearful that 
his army would perish for want of provisions, concluded a 
peace with the King of England. He himself and his chief- 
tains submitted to do homage to Henry, and to yield up the 
castles and districts in North Wales which, in the last reign, 
had been obtained from the English. Lord Lyttleton tells 
us, that to complete this humiliating position, Owain was 
obliged to deliver up two of his sons as pledges of his future 
obedience. The year after this important event a general 
21 



THE INVASION OF WALES. 

peace took place between England and Wales ; the princes 
and all the chieftains of South Wales repaired to the court of 
England, where Henry granted peace, on the Welsh doing 
homage for their own territories, and formally ceding to him the 
districts recovered from the English in the last reign. This 
peaceful state of things was but of short duration. Rhys, the 
son of Grufydd ab Rhys, immediate heir to the sovereign 
power of South Wales, having been outraged by several 
English lords, threw off his allegiance, commenced a revolt, 
and rallied around him a numerous force, which perplexed 
and baffled the English monarch. Shortly afterwards, fired 
by the gallant example of Rhys, the Prince of North Wales 
(Owain Gwynedd), and all his sons, his brother Cadwaladr, 
and the chieftains of Powys, united with him, in the endea- 
vour to regain their independence and honour. After some 
slight skirmishes with the Welsh, Henry gathered together a 
formidable force, with which he marched into Powys, breathing 
slaughter and extermination against the inhabitants. All the 
historical writers, in describing this fearful onslaught, admit 
that few events of ancient times were more deeply stained 
with the blood of innocence. The English army, formed of 
the choicest troops, from Normandy, Anjou, Flanders, Brit- 
tany, and other territories which Henry possessed in France, 
entered the Welsh confines at Oswestry, where it was en- 
camped for some time. The forces of North Wales were 
collected under the command of Owain Gwynedd and his 
brother Cadwaladr ; the army of South Wales was headed by 
the chivalrous Rhys ab Grufydd ; and the men of Powys 
were led by Owain Cyveiliog, and the sons of Madog ab 
Meredydd. The combined forces of the Welsh assembled at 
Corwen, where they awaited the approach of the English. 
Henry, burning with ardour to attack the enemy, marched 
his army to the banks of the Ceiriog, near the present village 
of Chirk, and at once ordered that the woods on each side of 
the river be cut down, to prevent ambuscades and sudden 
approaches of the enemy. It is related by some writers, that 
22 



THE BATTLE OF CROGEN. 

on the passage of the Ceiriog Henry was in imminent danger of 
losing his life: attempting to force a bridge, an arrow aimed at 
him by the hand of a Welshman must inevitably have pierced 
his body, if Hubert de St. Clare, Constable of Colchester, 
perceiving the danger, had not in a moment sprung before his 
sovereign and received it into his own bosom, and thereby 
met with his death-wound. Whilst the English soldiers 
were employed in felling the woods, a detachment of the 
Welsh forces forded the river, and suddenly attacked the van 
of Henry's army, composed of pikemen, considered to be the 
most daring and gallant portion of his soldiers. A fierce battle 
ensued ; many were killed on both sides, but at length Henry 
gained the passage, and advanced onward to the Berwyn moun- 
tains, to recruit his troops. There he remained in camp for 
several days. The Welsh were posted on the mountain-heights 
opposite, watching with lynx-eyed care every movement of the 
enemy. They succeeded in cutting off his supplies, and his 
army was reduced to extreme distress and privation, for want 
of food for man and horse. To increase his difficulties, sudden 
and heavy rains fell, which rendered the country on the Berwyn 
side so slippery and dangerous, that neither men nor horses 
could stand on their feet. Torrents of water, from the inces- 
sant rains, poured down from the mountains into the vale 
where Henry was encamped ; and, unable to maintain his 
ground amidst all these unexpected disasters, he retired, with 
great loss of men, and, what was more annoying to his 
vaunting spirit, with defeat and disgrace. Fired with revenge, 
and urged by the barbarism which ever marks the tyrant, he 
commanded that the eyes of all the hostages which had been 
placed in his hands should be put out. The two sons of 
Rhys ab Grufydd, Prince of South Wales, and the two sons 
also of Owain Gwynedd, Prince of North Wales, became the 
unfortunate victims of Henry's cruelty. Holinshead, in his 
Chronicles, tells us, that besides these young chieftains, the 
atrocious monarch caused the sons and daughters of several 
Welsh lords to be treated with the same severity ; ordering 
23 



SIARTER CWTTA. 

the eyes of the young striplings to be pecked out of their 
heads, and the ears of the gentlewomen to be stuffed. 

In the annals of Wales this battle is ranked among the 
brightest achievements of the Welsh, in their long-continued 
struggles for liberty. The site is known by the mournful 
designation oiAdwyW Beddau, or the Pass of the Graves. The 
conflict is called in most of the ancient books, " The Battle 
of Crogen" Yorke observes, " it has been erroneously said 
that the term Crogen was used in contempt and derision of 
the Welsh ; but that was not the truth. : the English meant 
to express by it animosity, and the desire of revenge." " Many 
of the English," he adds, "were slain, and buried in Offa's 
Dyke, below Chirk Castle, and the part so filled up is to be 
seen, and forms a passage over it, called to this day AdwyW 
Beddau, or the Pass of the Graves." The late Mr. William 
Price, in an annotated edition of his " History of Oswestry," 
published in 1815, has the following note on the Battle of 
Crogen : — " Owain Gwynedd slept at Tyn-y-Rhos, the present 
residence of Richard Phillips, Esq., who has still in preser- 
vation the bedstead he at that time lay upon. Likewise a 
Deed or Lease of a piece of land, of five acres, for 2s. 8d. per 
year ; with a cock and hen at Christmas, and a man a day in 
the harvest ; which still preserves the name." 

Turning for a moment to the civil government of Oswes- 
try, it may be mentioned that in the reign of Henry II, the 
first Charter was granted to Oswestry, by William, Earl of 
Arundel. The Welsh called it " Siarter Cwtta," the Short 
Charter. It was a Charter of protection, of which there were 
many granted about this period. It states, " I have received 
in protection my Burgesses of Blanc-Minster. Richard de 
Chambre was Constable of White-Minster. Thomas de 
Rossall held Rossall, of John Fitz-Alan, in chief, of one 
knight's fee at White-Minster." Guto (y Glyn), an excel- 
lent poet who flourished from 1430 to 1460, a native of 
84 



VISIT OF BALDWIN AND GIRALDUS. 

Llangollen, and domestic bard to the Abbot of Llanegwestl, or 
Valle Crucis, near that romantic town, speaks of White- 
Minster in his days. He says, " I know not of any Convent 
of Monks superior to White-Minster." 

About the year 1188, William Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, 
gave a sumptous banquet in the Castle of Oswestry, to 
Giraldus Cambrensis, and Baldwin, Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, on their return from Wales, the bleak and barren 
mountains of which they had just travelled over, in an attempt 
to incite the people to the intended Crusade to the Holy 
Land. Giraldus seems to have considered that the enter- 
tainment given by the Norman Earl was too luxurious for 
saintly personages. He speaks, however, with much com- 
placency of the comfortable accommodations provided for him 
and the Archbishop at Shrewsbury, whither they repaired 
from this town. " From Oswestry," says he, " that Prelate 
and his retinue came -after Easter (1188) to Slopesbury, where 
they remained some days to recruit and refresh themselves, and 
many assumed the cross in obedience to the precepts of the 
Archbishop, and the gracious sermon of the Archdeacon of St. 
David's. Here also they excommunicated Oen de Cevelioc 
(Owain Cyveiliog, Prince of Powys), because he alone of all 
the Welsh princes, had not advanced to meet the Archbishop. " 
The visit of Giraldus and Baldwin to Oswestry might have 
been induced by a two-fold motive, namely, to partake of the 
princely hospitality of Fitz-Alan, in his baronial castle, and 
to hold " ghostly communication " with Regner, Bishop of 
St. Asaph, who at this period resided in Oswaldestre. 

The succeeding portion of Henry II's long reign was 
largely occupied with plans and movements to subdue the 
Welsh princes and their people. After repeated struggles, 
the English monarch saw, with exulting spirit, that he had 
reduced Cambrian independence to a bye-word of contempt, 
by seducing them from patriotism and virtue, and rendering 
25 



BURNING OF THE CASTLE. 

them a disunited and improvident people. When he had 
accomplished this signal victory over them, and hoped to 
enjoy further years of sovereign power in comparative ease 
and tranquillity, the fate even of monarchs was dealt out to 
him. His mortal career was ended, and he was " gathered 
to his fathers :" — 

" The glories of our blood and state are shadows, not substantial things ; 
There is no armour against fate; Death lays his icy hand on kings." 

Henry was succeeded by Richard, his son, surnamed Cceur-de- 
Lion, whose reign continued for about ten years, when he 
was slain at the siege of Chalons, in France, and John, his 
brother, ascended the throne. During Richard's monarchy 
the town of Oswestry was not marked by any event worthy 
the record of the contemporary historian. 

The reign of John was distinguished by strong enmity to 
the Welsh. In 1211 he assembled a large army at Oswestry, 
and was there joined by many of the Welsh Chieftains, his 
vassals, with whom he marched to Chester ; resolving to ex- 
terminate the people of North Wales. It is revolting to 
trace the history of this feeble-minded and capricious king. 
His reckless attacks upon Wales, and his inveterate quarrel 
with his son-in-law, Prince Llywelyn ab Jorwerth, added to 
his troubles, and probably hastened his end. As a last 
effort against Wales, resenting Llywelyn's stern defence of 
Cambrian independence, John demolished the castles of Rad- 
nor and Hay ; and then, proceeding to the Marches, he set 
fire to Oswestry Castle, then under the governorship of John 
Fitz-Alan, (who had united with the barons of England in 
renouncing allegiance to the English Monarch, on his refusal 
to confirm their constitutional rights,) and burnt it to the 
ground. 

In the reign of Henry III. John Fitz-Alan, who was re- 
conciled to the king, procured for his Manor of Blanc- 
26 



LLYWELYN AB JORWERTH. 

Minster the grant of a Fair on the eve, the day, and the day 
after St. Andrew's feast. The Bailiffs were also made clerks 
of the market, with privilege to imprison any person detected 
in forestalling ; for which they were paid twenty marks as a 
consideration. These petty officers, " dressed in a little brief 
authority," abused their power, and gave occasion to frequent 
remonstrances from the inhabitants. Powel, who seems to 
have paid great deference to "the powers that be," concludes, 
not very logically, we think, that it was " no wonder that so 
many of the grievances which the Welsh so much complained 
of to Edward I. should originate from this place." 

The historic facts recorded subsequent to this period are 
brief and meagre. We are told that in 1233 Oswestry was 
again destroyed by fire. Llywelyn ab Jorwerth had just 
made an inroad into the county of Brecknock, destroying all 
the towns and fortresses belonging to that territory ; he then 
invested the castle, lay before it a month, raised the siege, 
finding his efforts to be fruitless, set fire to the town, and 
pursued his way to the Marches. Conflagration and ruin 
marked his progress: he burnt the town of Clun,. in Salop, 
demolished Redde Castle, in Powys, and laid Oswestry in 
ashes. A few months afterwards, Llywelyn and Lord Pem- 
broke, having joined their forces, made another inroad into 
the English Marches, and having rendered all that country a 
scene of devastation, they finished their fiery career by laying 
part of the town of Shrewsbury (Frankwell, it is supposed,) 
in ashes. 

Early in the reign of Edward I. that monarch was intent 
on bowing the stubborn neck of Llywelyn ab Grufydd (the 
last native sovereign Prince of Wales). Llywelyn was 
refractory, and ambitious to maintain his order. Edward 
summoned him to a parliament in London, but Llywelyn 
refused to comply with the royal command. In reply, he 
offered (Oct. 14, 1276-7,) to repair to Montgomery, or to " the 
27 



THE TOWN WALLS. 

White Monastery of John Fitz-Alan," as Oswestry was then 
called, but declined a journey to the metropolis of England. 
On the receipt of this answer, by which Edward, resolute to 
exact a personal obedience, was, or aifected to be, greatly 
enraged, the Parliament immediately condemned Llywelyn as 
a rebel, for his non-appearance. The melancholy end of the 
Welsh prince is well known. " If," says an elegant historian, 
" the valour of Llywelyn, his talents, and his patriotism, 
had been exhibited upon a more splendid theatre, — on the 
plains of Marathon, or in the straits of Thermopylce, — his 
name would have been recorded in the classic page, and his 
memory revered, as an illustrious hero, and as a gallant asser- 
tor of the rights of nature." 

Edward did not confine his attention to Wales only, but 
extended it to the Borders, and included in his eagle-eyed 
glance the town of Oswestry. " Provision was made," says 
Pennant, " against future insults ; for in the reign of Edward 
I. the town (Oswestry) was surrounded with walls. This 
happened when that politic monarch meditated the conquest 
of Wales ; he therefore thought proper to secure this town, one 
of the keys of the country, with proper defence." He com- 
menced the erection of the walls in 1277. They are said to 
have been about a mile in circumference, with an intrenchment 
on the outside, which could be filled with water from the 
numerous streams in the vicinity. Edward's order to put 
Oswestry into a state of defence issued from Shrewsbury — 
the seat of his government for several months — and his 
letters patent, directed to the Bailiffs and Burgesses of the 
ancient town, are worthy of record, as they show the mode 
in which taxation was levied in early days. This curious 
document is as follows : — 

" Of the Murage of Oswaldestre. The King to the Bai- 
liffs and Burgesses, and the other good men of Oswaldestre 
greeting. 

" Know ye that we have granted in aid of enclosing our 
28 



THE MURAGE. 

town of Oswaldestre, that from the feast of St. Thomas the 
Apostle in the twelvth year of our reign to the end of twenty 
years thence ensuing, ye may take in the same Town, to the 
reparation of the walls of the same Town, of every horse-load 
of corn to be sold, one halfpenny ; of every horse and mare, 
ox and cow sold, one halfpenny ; of every hide of horse and 
mare, ox and cow, fresh, salt, or tanned, one farthing ; of 
every cart bringing salted flesh to sell, twopence ; of five 
bacons sold, one halfpenny ; of a salmon fresh sold, one 
halfpenny ; of ten sheep, goats, or pigs sold, one penny ; of 
ten fleeces of wool, one penny ; of one hundred skins of 
sheep, goats, stags, hind bucks and does, one penny ; of 
every hundred skins of lambs, kids, hares, rabbits, foxes, cats, 
and squirrels, one halfpenny ; of every cart of salt to sell, 
one penny ; of every horse-load of salt to sell by the week, 
one farthing ; of every horse-load of cloth to sell, one penny ; 
of every entire cloth to sell in the town of Gloucester, one 
penny ; of every cloth of silk brocaded and diapered with 
gold, one penny ; of every cloth of silk without gold and chef 
de cendall, one halfpenny ; of every dole of wine to sell, 
two pence ; of every horse-load of honey to sell, one penny ; 
of every dole of honey to sell, four pence ; of every sack of 
wool to sell, four pence ; of every truss of cloth to sell brought 
by cart, four pence ; of every horse-load of cloth to sell, or 
other diverse and small things coming to be sold in the same 
town, one halfpenny ; of every cart of iron to sell, one penny ; 
of every horse-load of iron to sell, one halfpenny ; of every 
carriage of lead to sell, two pence ; of tallow and lard to sell, 
one farthing ; of every hundred of alum and copperas to sell, 
one halfpenny ; of two thousand onions, a farthing ; of every 
thousand of herrings to sell, one halfpenny ; of every hundred 
of boards to sell, one halfpenny ; of every mill sold, one pen- 
ny ; of every thousand of laths sold, one penny ; of every 
new cart sold, one halfpenny ; of every hundred of faggots 
to sell, one halfpenny ; of every quarter of salt, one farthing ; 
of every twelve horse-loads of coal sold, one halfpenny ; of 
29 



CHURCH GRANT. 

every thousand of all manner of nails to sell, except cart 
nails, one farthing ; of a thousand of cart nails to sell, one 
halfpenny ; of every hundred of horse shoes and clouts to 
carts to sell, one halfpenny ; for every truss of any sort of 
merchandise coming for sale to the aforesaid town, of the 
value of two shillings, one farthing ; of every cauldron sold 
to brew, one penny ; of every quarter of oatmeal to sell, one 
halfpenny : And we therefore command that ye take the 
said custom to the end of the term aforesaid, but the term 
of the said twenty years being compleat, the said custom 
ceases and is done away. In witness, &c." 

Pennant states that the walls were begun in the sixth of 
Edward I., and that " the murage or toll was granted on the 
inhabitants of the county, which lasted for six years, in which 
time it may be supposed the walls were completed." 

Archbishop Peckham visited Oswestry, June 12, 1284. 
He was received with great respect by Anian, Bishop of St. 
Asaph, the clergy, and others. Anian obtained from the king a 
confirmation of the rights and privileges of his church, and re- 
ceived from John Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, and Baron of 
Oswestry and Clun, the grant to his church of one hundred acres 
of land at St. Martins, paying yearly at Midsummer, for ever, 
a pair of gilt spurs ; with the condition, that neither the bishop 
nor his successors should alienate the same. This grant is dated 
at Album Monasterium, 1271. Richard, son of the said John 
Fitz-Alan, afterwards confirmed it, and also gave forty-five 
acres more, with the manor-house belonging thereto. Anian 
had a long dispute at Rome respecting the placing of a vicar 
in Blanc-Monasterium, the tithes of which his predecessor 
had given to the Abbey of Shrewsbury. The issue was, that 
the abbot, for the peaceable enjoyment of his tithes, gave the 
whole of his lands at St. Martins, upon paying two Welsh 
knives yearly. These said knives, if now produced at 
Sheffield, would doubtless disturb the risible faculties of the 
keen knife -manufacturers there. 
30 



THE MORTIMERS. 

Edward IT. was much annoyed and harassed in the latter 
part of his reign, partly from his want of fidelity to many of 
his most distinguished nobles, the two Mortimers, uncle and 
nephew, among their number. A revolution broke out 
against the king, in 1325, concocted, it is said, by the queen 
and her favourite, Roger Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore, in 
which the French monarch also took part. A strong feeling 
for and against Edward was manifested in Shrewsbury, 
where the Mortimers were well known. Edmund, Earl of 
Arundel, was one of the few peers who had preserved their 
loyalty to the crown. He assembled a multitude of his 
Welsh tenantry at Oswestry, with a view of seizing Shrews- 
bury for the king. Arundel was, however, apprehended near 
Shrewsbury, with certain of his adherents, after an obstinate 
struggle. The Earl was taken from that town to Hereford, 
where he expiated his loyalty on the scaffold. For this 
" service " the " good men of Salop " had all the goods and 
chattels found upon him. After his execution, the queen, to 
show her attachment to her paramour, Lord Mortimer, 
obtained the Castle of Oswestry for that favourite. In 1324, 
Edmund, Earl of Arundel, granted two shops in Leg-street, 
to the burgesses of Oswestry for ever, on payment of 13s. 
4d. yearly. This grant is witnessed by " Lord Richard, 
Abbot of Haggemon," and others, and "dated at Oswaldestre, 
on the feast of St. Michael, in the 18th year of the reign of 
King Edward, the son of King Edward." 

Edward III.'s reign was long and glorious. It was distin- 
guished by the ever-memorable battle of Cressy. Part of the 
inhabitants of this town doubtless contributed to the victory 
thus obtained; for in 1346 the king directed Richard Fitz- 
Alan to raise two hundred of his vassals from Oswestry and 
Clun, to attend him in the French wars. 

In 1397 Richard, Earl of Arundel and Surrey, was attainted 
and executed, when Richard II. seized all his lands and 
31 



THE GREAT PARLIAMENT. 

manors, and granted them to William le Scrope, Earl of 
Wiltshire. In the Historia Regum Anglice we find the 
following bit of superstition entertained at this period. On 
this occasion the Earl of Arundel must, of course, have 
deeply regretted his contempt of the marvellous stone of 
which John Ross, the Antiquary, of Warwick, writes. "The 
earl," says this grave author, " kept a raven in his court ; 
and one day, as he was playing at chess in the garden, the 
bird," or, as Ross suggests, " a spirit in that form, brought 
up (eructavit) a stone having the virtue of invisibility. The 
earl set no value upon it, contrary to the advice of his nobles ; 
and soon after, being arrested by strong hand, he was com- 
mitted to ward, and finally beheaded." 

The king, having put down all opposition to certain mea- 
sures which he was resolved to carry, by the execution of 
Arundel, and the murder of his uncle of Gloucester, adjourned 
his Parliament at Westminster to Shrewsbury, and from thence 
to Oswestry. An apprehension of tumult among the Earl of 
Arundel's tenantry in this county, from his violent death, 
and the seizure of his estates, was probably the reason 
for making both Shrewsbury and Oswestry the scene of 
that national assembly. The Parliament met at Shrewsbury 
Jan. 29, 1397-8, and was designated The Great Parliament. 
In this regal visit he displayed great magnificence, and 
entertained the members with a sumptuous banquet, he appear- 
ing among the people in his costly royal robes. Whilst 
in Shrewsbury Richard made Chester a Principality, and 
annexed to it the Castle of Holt, the lordship of Brom- 
field and Yale, Chirkland, and various other places in Wales 
and on the Borders. During the proceedings in Parliament 
it was ascertained that deadly hatred subsisted between 
the Dukes of Hereford and Norfolk. These noblemen had 
been jointly concerned in the impeachment of Arundel and 
his fellow-sufferers, at Westminster. Norfolk, touched by 
remorse for his share in the ruin of a patriotic peer, or desirous 
32 



THE FIRST ROYAL CHARTER. 

of ensnaring his late confederate, who had charged Norfolk 
with using words disrespectful to the king, fell into open 
quarrel with Hereford, who made the matter a subject of 
public accusation in the Parliament against his antagonist. 
The king, unwilling that any discourse about himself should 
be made the subject of open discussion, suddenly closed 
the proceedings of Parliament, and adjourned to Oswestry. 
In the assembly there the dispute between the two Dukes was 
recommenced, and the king resolved that it should be ended by 
a duel between the belligerent parties at Coventry. The combat 
did not take place, as the Duke of Norfolk refused to fight ; 
upon which Norfolk was banished from the kingdom for ever, 
and Hereford for ten years. As a mark of the royal favour, 
Richard granted, before the Parliament closed, the first Char- 
ter conferred upon Oswestry, by which the town was incor- 
porated by the name of " The Bailiffs and Burgesses of 
Osiuestry, infra Palatinatum Cestrice in Marchia inter Angliam 
et Walliam." The' Charter, which was founded upon the 
one granted just before at Shrewsbury, exempted the Bur- 
gesses from all contributions and exactions whatsoever, 
throughout the kingdom, the city of London excepted. It 
bears date, August 14, 1399. 

The close of Richard's kingly rule was near. His love of 
idle show and magnificence, his delight in popular applause, 
the buzzing about him of parasites and flatterers, and his in- 
dulgence in pleasures, were followed by a brief scene of bitter 
existence, which ended in degrading humiliation and painful 
death. The eyes of Henry of Lancaster, Duke of Hereford, 
had long been directed towards the throne, and he actively 
employed his agents to place him upon it. The classic his- 
torians of Shrewsbury assure us that, either from the disgust 
occasioned by outrages perpetrated upon the Burgesses, by 
Richard's body-guard, or disorderly multitudes brought into 
the town during the sittings of his Parliament, "it is certain 
that the revolution which placed Henry of Lancaster on the 
33 D 



DEATH OF RICHARD II. 

throne had the entire concurrence of the inhabitants of these 
parts (Shropshire). When the Duke proceeded into Wales 
to circumvent the unhappy Richard, he passed through Lud- 
low and Shrewsbury, and was joined here (Shrewsbury) by 
the Lords Scales and Bardolph, Sir Robert and Sir John 
Legh, and other gentlemen of Cheshire." Richard, after 
suffering much indignity, was secured a prisoner in Flint 
Castle, by the great conspirator Lancaster, and from thence 
was led in the Duke's train to Chester. Here Bolingbroke 
delivered the subdued monarch to the Duke of Gloucester 
and Thomas, Earl of Arundel, saying, " Here is the murderer 
of your father, you must be answerable for him." He was 
subsequently conveyed to Pontefract Castle, where he was 
basely assassinated by a band of armed ruffians, four of whom 
he killed with a battle-axe before he fell. 

The untimely death of Richard caused an immediate change 
in the government of Oswestry. Its newly-created lord, the 
Earl of Wiltshire, fell a victim to popular fury, and Thomas, 
son of the attainted Earl of Arundel, was restored to the 
manorial rights and dignities of Oswestry. The Earl of 
Huntington, the king's brother, fled into the county of 
Essex ; but passing through a village belonging to the 
Countess of Hereford (sister of the deceased Richard, Earl of 
Arundel), he was discovered, and arrested. The countess 
apprized the new monarch, Henry, of the capture, and de- 
sired him to send to her the young Earl of Arundel, her 
nephew, that he might witness the mode in which she in- 
tended to avenge herself of her brother's death. The Earl of 
Arundel posted to the place where Huntington was prisoner, 
and loaded him with reproaches. The countess delivered the 
captive nobleman, bound with chains, into the hands of eight 
thousand of her vassals, whom she called together for the 
occasion. The wretched prisoner, struck with terror at the 
preparations made to take away his life, sued for mercy, and 
protested that he had not committed the foul act of which he 
34 



EXECUTION OF HUNTINGTON. 

was accused. Had the countess restrained her rage, and 
listened to reason and justice, she would have found that 
Huntington was not a guilty murderer, but that Richard, 
Earl of Arundel, was brought to the block mainly by the 
treachery of the Earl of Nottingham. Heedless of his pro- 
testations and cries for mercy, she commanded her vassals to 
cut him to pieces. His assembled executioners are said to 
have taken pity upon him ; whilst the countess and fyoung 
earl strenuously urged his death. Maddened by rage, she 
exclaimed, " Curse on ye all, villains ; you have not the 
courage to put a man to death." This violent exclamation 
roused an esquire, who offered himself as executioner. He 
seized the hatchet, and approached Huntington, but was so 
touched with his tender complaints, that he trembled with 
emotion, and returning to the countess, his eyes being filled 
with tears, he said, " I would not put the earl to death for all 
the gold in the world." The countess, full of indignation, 
looking at him " unutterable things," exclaimed, " Do what 
thou hast promised, or thy own head shall be cut off." When 
he heard this he was so afraid that he knew not what to do, 
and approaching the earl again said, " Sir, I entreat your 
pardon ; forgive me your death." He then struck him a 
violent blow on the shoulder, which felled him to the ground. 
Huntington sprang up again, and said, " Alas, man, why do 
you treat me thus ? For God's sake kill me more easily." 
The esquire then struck him eight times on the shoulder, 
being so terrified that he could not aim his blows at the neck. 
Another blow followed, which fell on the neck, when the 
wretched nobleman, suffering pain and agony from his cruel 
treatment, cried out, " Alas, dear friend, have pity upon me, 
and free me from my pain." The executioner then seized a 
knife, and cut the Earl's throat, separating his head from the 
body. 

The Glyndwr or Glendower insurrection arose about this 
period, and the town of Oswestry greatly suffered from it* 
23 



THE GLYNDWR INSURRECTION. 

Owain Glyndwr was descended on the mother's side from 
Llywelyn, the last sovereign Prince of Wales, his father, 
Grufydd Vychan, having married Helen, a grand-daughter of 
that puissant chieftain. He studied the law at one of the 
Inns of Court in London, and finally was admitted as a bar- 
rister. He may have quitted his profession, for we find he 
was appointed an esquire to Richard II., to whom he was de- 
votedly attached, and whose fortunes he followed even to 
Flint Castle, and till his royal master's household was dis- 
solved. He had been knighted by King Richard, and was 
married early in life to Margaret, daughter to Sir David 
Hanmer, of Hanmer, in Flintshire, one of the Justices of the 
Court of the King's Bench. His resentment against Henry 
IV. was strong and implacable. He had suffered deep 
private wrongs from the usurpation of the king, and burned 
with indignation to avenge himself. 

Owain Glyndwr's sudden appearance as a military leader 
of his countrymen roused their ancient martial spirit, and 
thousands flocked to his standard. In the year 1400 the 
town of Oswestry was burned, the Welsh having attacked it ; 
and in 1403 Owain Glyndwr assembled his forces in the 
town, that he might join Lord Percy (surnamed Henry Hot- 
spur) against the king. The Welsh leader dispatched to the 
" tented field" his first division only, amounting to 4000 men, 
whose prowess was distinguished on the day of battle. The 
great body of his troops, about 12,000 in number, did not 
approach nearer than Oswestry, they having been detained at 
the siege of Kidweli Castle. It is thought by some writers, 
that Owain did not remain inactively at Oswestry. Gough, 
the historian, mentions, that about two miles from Shrews- 
bury, where the Pool road diverges from that leading to 
Oswestry, "there stands an ancient decayed Oak Tree, of 
which there is a tradition, that Glyndwr ascended it to recon- 
noitre ; but finding that the king was in great force, and that 
the Earl of Northumberland had not joined his son, he fell 



THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY. 

back to Oswestry, and immediately afterwards retreated into 

Wales." 

In the " Beauties of England and Wales" the Shropshire 
history edited by Mr. Rylance, we find the following passage 
on Glyndwr's alledged abandonment of Hotspur "at his ut- 
most need : M — "The army of Glyndwr, amounting to twelve 
thousand men, had remained inactive at Oswestry during the 
battle. There is a tradition that he himself quitted that 
place in disguise, and hastening to Shrewsbury, hid himself 
in a gigantic oak, which commanded a full view of the field ; 
and that after witnessing the discomfiture of his friends, 
returning with speed to Oswestry, he withdrew his forces 
into Wales, whither he was pursued by Prince Henry." 
Hulbert, too, in his " History of the Town and County of 
Salop" referring to the famous battle, says, " Owain Glyndwr 
beheld the battle of Shrewsbury, instead of sustaining, by his 
arms, the cause of his ally, the gallant and intrepid Hotspur." 
Another writer on this memorable event declares, that had 
Glyndwr brought up his reserved troops when Hotspur by 
his impetuous onslaughts was within an ace of victory, or 
when the brave warrior was slain, the battle would have been 
won, and the royal forces entirely routed. Taking these 
allegements to be truths, Glyndwr perpetrated a baseness 
which all faithful men must condemn. 

Many writers have taken pains to solve the question, "Did 
Owain Glyndwr act merely as an idle spectator at the battle 
of Shrewsbury ; or did he actually lead his corps de reserve 
to Shelton, to aid the gallant Hotspur ?" No author that 
we have read has settled that doubtful inquiry. Owain's 
hatred of Henry, and his ardent efforts to give freedom to his 
countrymen, with his chivalrous bearing in the rebellion he 
had created, would suggest no evidence that Glyndwr was 
pusillanimous ; and yet history furnishes alleged facts strongly 
reflecting upon his heroic spirit, and almost charging him 
37 



THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY. 

with craven cowardice. To conclude that Glyndwr was ac- 
tuated by base and unmanly curiosity in perching himself 
upon a branch of the Shelton Oak would be to brand his 
name with infamy ; and yet, if he were espying the battle 
from that famous tree, his troops being close in reserve, but 
not in action, an accusation no less severe must ever rest upon 
his character as a chieftain and a man. On this interesting 
subject, which will always engage the attention of histori- 
cal readers, a poet of bright fancy and manly sentiment — 
Dovaston of Westfelton— has given sarcastic expression to an 
opinion, in a Miltonic sonnet on the Shelton Oak, that Owain 
Glyndwr, at the battle of Shrewsbury, was a traitor to gal- 
lantry and faith :-— 

" Tradition says, and why not trust Tradition, 
When many a haunt breathes, hallowed by her song, 
From this Great Oak, backed by twelve thousand men, 
Wrung at their country's wrongs and murdered king, 
Glyndwr, the wise, the bountiful, the brave, 
Beheld young Percy fall : and conquest crown 
The perjured Bolingbroke. — Bright youth, he cried, 
Thy spur is cold. One thoughtless act hath lost 
An Empire's tide. Mark what the great have said — 
' The better part of valour is discretion,' 
For safe on prudence every good attends." 

" The Battle of Shrewsbury " is not only " clad," as the same 
poet fancifully describes, " in cold-hearted History's homely 
weeds," but " garlanded with Avon's dewy flowers." The 
conflict is part of the history of this district ; and the 
narrative we subjoin, from the able pens of the historians of 
Shrewsbury, will attract the attention of all who value " pure 
English, undenled :"— 

" Of the famous and severely-contested battle which ensued 
under the walls of our town, the awful prelude to so many 
more between the rival houses, through the remainder of the 
century, we have five contemporary and perhaps independent 
narratives ; but one of them is a mass of errors, and another 
38 



THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY. 

extremely succinct, and of the others only one is circumstan- 
tial: nor is any of them sufficient to satisfy the minute 
Curiosity of the local historian : but the best account that can 
be drawn from a comparison of the whole, supplied in some 
instances by a consideration of the ground, and in a few 
others by modest conjecture, shall be laid before the reader 
as the conclusion of the present chapter. 

"We are unable to trace the progress of Hotspur's long 
march from the North to Shrewsbury, a journey of not less 
than 250 miles. He probably set out in the beginning of 
July ; and skirting along the eastern side of Cheshire, where 
his army received a considerable augmentation, passed through 
Stafford, and was joined there by his uncle the earl of Wor- 
cester. The king, aware of his intention to gain possession 
of Shrewsbury, and desirous of cutting off his junction 
with Glendower, pursued him with hasty marches. We find 
his majesty on the 16th of July at Burton-upon-Trent, and 
on the 17th at Lichfield: whence, finding that he could not 
overtake his enemy, he hastened on to reach Shrewsbury 
before him. He would naturally take the Watling Street 
road, and enter this town over the Abbey Bridge. The 
route of Hotspur was more to the north, in order to keep up 
a communication with the Severn, so important for his junc- 
tion with Glendower. In all probability he marched through 
Newport, by High Ercall and Haghmond Hill ; and hoped 
to gain admittance through the North or Castle Gate. The 
king arrived just in time to save the town : he entered it 
only a few hours before Hotspur, who reached the Castle 
Foregate on the evening of Friday, July 19th, and the king's 
forces could not have advanced from Lichfield before the 
morning of that day. They were certainly here before 
Percy : for, aware of the intention of that young nobleman, 
and desirous to save the Castle from his attack, they set fire 
to that extensive suburb, and marched out of the Castle gates 
to offer him battle. Hotspur, unwilling to bring his army 
39 



>-> 



THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY. 

into action at the close of a toilsome march, and learnin 
from the royal banner which waved on the walls, that the 
king was in possession of the town, called off his followers from 
the attack, and retired to the Bull-field, an extensive com- 
mon which stretched from Upper Berwick to the East. He 
thus protected his rear by the woody and impervious precipi- 
ces extending to Leaton shelf, and had the river not only on 
his side, but also, if it had not entirely deserted its ancient 
channel under Cross-hill, (as there is reason to believe it had 
not,) in his front also. This position enabled him likewise to 
communicate readily over that stream by the ford of Shelton 
with the forces of Glendower, when they should arrive, as he 
hoped, on the opposite bank. Here he passed the night in 
council. His army consisted of 14,000 chosen men, of whom 
a considerable part were of the county of Chester, at that 
time eminent for its skill in archery ; but, if Hall is correct, 
the royal army was nearly double that number ; for he writes 
that above 40,000 men were assembled on both parts, and 
every circumstance of the battle proves that the king was at 
the head of a very superior force. His situation was, however, 
by no means devoid of anxiety. He must have been conscious 
how slender the title was which he possessed to the throne : 
and how ill-disposed his peerage of the realm were to main- 
tain him upon it. From the Castle he might view, as the 
dawn arose, the plain which stretched to the north glittering 
with hostile arms : while the dreadful Glendower was believed 
to be in full march from Oswestry, to join the rebels with his 
Welsh forces. But the difficulties of the crisis only sufficed 
to call forth his energies and display his talents. 

" Henry was himself a distinguished warrior. In earlier 
life he had, in company with his princely uncle the duke of 
Gloucester, travelled into the north of Europe in quest of 
martial glory ; and under the banners of the renowned Teu- 
tonic order had made a glorious campaign against the Pagans 
of Lithuania. He was still in the vigour of life, being much 
40 



THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY. 

under forty years of age, and an adversary every way worthy 
of the gallant Percy ; whom, relying upon the superiority of 
his numbers, he determined, if possible, to force to an engage- 
ment, before that nobleman should receive his reinforcements 
from Wales or the north. By break of day, therefore, he 
dispatched, it is probable, a strong force, under the. nominal 
command, for it could be no more, of the young prince, 
the future hero of Agincourt, but then a youth of fourteen 
years, to come up with Hotspur at Berwick, if possible. He 
himself, with the main body, appears to have marched out on 
the Hadnall road, ready to proceed as occasion might demand, 
either to the north of Cross Hill and Almond Pool, and close 
the rebels between his two divisions ; or else to advance fur- 
ther on upon that road, where it branches off to Shawbury, 
with the view of cutting off their retreat, if Hotspur, aware of 
his design, should attempt to march to the east. It happened 
as the king anticipated. Hotspur, on his advance, broke up 
in some disorder, arid marched by TIarlescot and Abright 
Hussey to Hately-field, which stretches from thence east- 
wards. Here, however, finding it impossible to avoid an 
engagement, on acccount, as we may suppose, of the obstruc- 
tion to his retreat presented by the king's movement above 
mentioned, he made his stand in the rear of a field of peas 
nearly ripe ; behind which he stationed his army, and hoped 
thereby to deter the king from advancing over a tract which 
must necessarily impede his operations. 

" He then addressed his little army in a short harangue, of 
which Walsingham has preserved the heads. 'We must 
desist,' said he, 'from any further attempt to retreat, and turn 
our arms on those that come against us. Ye see the royal 
banner, nor is there time to seek a passage even though we 
wished it. Stand, therefore, with steadfast hearts : for this 
day shall either promote us all, if we conquer ; or deliver us 
from an usurper, if we fall : and it is better to die in battle 
for the common wealth, than after battle by the sentence of 
41 



THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY. 

our foe :" and with this, to support the courage of his men by 
proving his design to fight to the outrance, he dispatched two 
of his esquires, Knayton and Salvayn, with that strange de- 
fiance, in which he loads the king with the most horrid 
crimes. * * * * 

" No one has informed us how the king received this furious 
manifesto. He had something else to engage his attention. He 
proceeded to marshal his forces, dividing them into two columns, 
or wedges. Of one of these he took the command himself, 
and entrusted the other to his son. The front rank of his 
own column was led on by his nephew the young earl of 
Stafford, a soldier of conspicuous valour, on whom he had 
that morning conferred the high office of constable of England, 
recently enjoyed by the earl of Northumberland. Previous 
to the final onset, the king, in compliance with the customs 
of chivalry, bestowed the honour of knighthood on certain of 
his most distinguished esquires. Hotspur, perceiving that 
an engagement was unavoidable, called for his favourite sword. 
His attendants informed him that it was left behind at Ber- 
wick, of which village it does not appear that he had till then 
learned the name. At these words he turned pale, and said, 
' I perceive that my plough is drawing to its last furrow, for 
a wizard told me in Northumberland that I should perish at 
Berwick: which I vainly interpreted of that town in the 
North.' His courage did not, however, yield to the impres- 
sions of superstition ; he rallied his spirits, and arranged his 
troops with his usual ability : assigning their respective sta- 
tions to his uncle Worcester, the Scottish earl of Douglas, 
his recent captive at Halidown, sir Richard Venables, baron 
of Kinderton, Hugh Brow, Hugh Vernon, and others. His 
troops appear to have been chiefly stationed on the north 
side of the spot now occupied by the church in a field still 
called the Hateleys : on the east side of the church is a field 
denominated the King's croft, in which, it may be presumed, 
were ranged those which the king commanded in person. 
42 



THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY. 

These positions exactly agree with the objects which we have 
assigned above to the respective leaders ; and lend, it is hoped, 
some confirmation to the conjectural part of the preceding 
narration. 

"While the hostile armies, drawn up in battle array facing 
each other, waited, with mute expectation, the sound of the 
trumpet, the dreadful signal for combat, two venerable divines, 
Thomas Prestbury, lord abbot of Salop, and the clerk of the 
privy seal, advanced out of the royal army, and proceeded 
towards that of Percy. The king, desirous to spare the 
blood of his subjects* oiFered him and his adherents pardon 
and peace, and redress of all grievances of which they could 
justly complain. Hotspur was touched by these unexpected 
overtures, made under circumstances of such numerical 
inequality, and requested his uncle of Worcester to repair to 
the royal presence in company of these holy men, and state 
the grounds on which he had taken up arms. The king, we 
may suppose, was in his turn somewhat softened by the sight 
of the earl, who had been so recently engaged in the domes- 
tic office of governor to the prince of Wales ; and a recollec- 
tion of the obligations he had received from the Percy family 
might mix itself with his other reflections. It is certain that 
to the remonstrances of Worcester, delivered in a fierce and 
haughty tone, he listened with respect, and replied with a 
condescension which, in the opinion of the spectators, was 
somewhat unbefitting the royal dignity. A contemporary 
writer has preserved, though with a mistake of the person, 
the dialogue supposed to have passed between them. The 
king ' counselled him to put himself on his grace.' To which 
the other replied, 'I trust not in your grace.' — 'I pray God,' 
rejoined the king, 'that thou mayest have to answer for the 
blood here to be shed this day, and not I. March on standard- 
bearer!' and the battle was set.' — It is certain that the stern 
temper of Worcester rejected all attempts at conciliation: he 
was conscious how deeply he had been engaged in fomenting 
43 



THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY. 

the quarrel ; and, on his return to his friends, he misrepre- 
sented the demeanour of Henry in such a manner to his 
nephew, that the latter, with whatever reluctance, was com- 
pelled to relinquish all hopes of accommodation. At length, 
therefore, much of the day having heen consumed in these 
fruitless negociations, both parties flew to arms, and the air 
was rent with the war-cries of ' St. George ' on one side, and 
' Esperance Percy ' on the other. In the meanwhile, Glen- 
dower had advanced as far as Shelton on the opposite bank 
of Severn, where he awaited the issue of the contest, deter- 
mined to proceed or retire according to its event. He is said, 
by the constant tradition of the country, to have ascended 
there the branches of a lofty oak, whose venerable trunk yet 
remains, for the purpose of viewing the battle ; at least of 
gaining, from personal inspection, the earliest intelligence of 
its event. 

" The fight began by furious and repeated volleys of arrows 
from Hotspur's archers, whose ground, as may be seen, 
greatly favoured that kind of warfare : and they did great 
execution on the royal army. The king's bowmen were not 
wanting in return, and the battle raged with violence. The 
military art had not yet attained that perfection which almost 
supersedes the effect of individual exertion ; and Hotspur, 
with his associate Douglas, bent on the king's destruction, 
rushing through the midst of the hostile arrows, pierced their 
way to the spot on which he stood. To adopt the vivid 
language of a contemporary, ' in the ardour of his spirit, he 
assembled a band of thirty warriors, broke into the royal 
army, and' made a great alley in the midst thereof,' (such was 
the terror which his presence inspired) * even to the stoutest 
of the king's guards.' Monstrelet says, Henry was thrice 
unhorsed by the Scottish earl, and would have been taken or 
slain had he not been defended and rescued by his own men. 
And the fortune of the day would have been forthwith deci- 
ded, if the Scottish earl of March had not withdrawn him 
44 



THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY. 

from the danger; for the royal standard-bearer was slain, his 
banner beaten down ; and many of the chosen band appointed 
to guard it (among whom were the earl of Stafford and sir 
Walter Blount,) were killed by these desperate assailants, — 
while the young prince of Wales was wounded in the face 
by an arrow. In short, notwithstanding all the exertions 
of the royalists, victory seemed inclined to favour the rebel 
army, who fought with renewed ardour, from an opinion 
naturally derived from the overthrow of his standard, that the 
king himself had fallen, and animated each other to the combat 
with cheering and redoubled shouts of * Henry Percy, king ! 
Henry Percy, king /' 

" In this critical moment the gallant Percy, raging through 
the adverse ranks in quest of his sovereign, fell by an un- 
known hand ; alone, and hemmed in by foes. The king lost 
no time to avail himself of this event. Straining his voice to 
the utmost, he exclaimed aloud, ' Henry Percy is dead V 
The sound was heard by either army : into those it struck 
dismay, while these it animated and encouraged. The rebels 
fled in every direction, nor could the king, anxious as he was 
to terminate the slaughter, restrain the impetuous pursuit of 
his own troops, till the flower of Cheshire, two hundred 
knights and esquires (besides pages and footmen) were slain. 
Douglas broke through, and endeavoured to escape in the 
direction of Haghmond-hill : being closely pursued, and 
leaping from a crag, he experienced a severe injury, and was 
captured : but the king, in admiration of his valour, set him 
at liberty. The loss in both armies was great. * * * 
An ancient manuscript rates the number of gentlemen at 
two thousand two hundred and ninety-one, besides com- 
mons. They were chiefly buried, says that authority, in a 
great pit, the dimensions of which are there specified, and 
over which the present church of Battlefield was afterwards 
erected : but many are stated to have lain dispersed in various 
directions for the space of three miles about the field of 
45 



THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY. 

battle : a fact which confirms what has been said above of the 
desultory nature of the conflict. Others, of the most distin- 
guished rank, were interred in the neighbouring town, chiefly 
in the cemetery of the Dominican or St. Mary's Friars. 

" The body of Hotspur was at first delivered to his kins- 
man lord Furnival for interment, and it was by him commit- 
ted to the ground with the suffrages of the church, and with 
all the honours which, in that haste, could be procured as 
due to his rank. It is painful to reflect, that the king after- 
wards repented him of this generous attention to the remains 
of deceased valour. He caused the corpse to be taken out 
of the tomb in which it had been laid, and to be placed be- 
tween two mill-stones in the public street, near the pillory ; 
where, as if he feared lest the general sympathy should rescue 
it from its ignominious situation, it was kept under military 
guard, till the head was severed from the body, which was 
divided into quarters, and transmitted to several cities in the 
realm." 

Thus closes this circumstantial and able description of the 
celebrated battle of Shrewsbury ; an event so interesting in 
the annals of the county, that we make no apology for having 
transferred so detailed an account of it to our pages. A 
nobler theme could not well be conceived for the lay of a 
minstrel. " The characters of the leaders, both of the royal 
and of the rebel party, the chivalrous spirit of the times in which 
they lived, and the magnitude of the cause that roused them 
to arms, are circumstances highly susceptible of poetical de- 
scription, while the train of incidents from the very origin to 
the termination of the feud, is of that romantic cast which 
requires little embellishment from fiction. There is indeed 
one objection which may have deterred our later Poets from 
the undertaking ; it is, that the ground which Shakspeaie 
has trod is sacred ; but without any violation of the reverence 
due to his memory, it may be wished that this magnificent 
subject had also been celebrated by the muse that sang the 
tale of Flodden Field." 
46 



THE THIRD CHARTER. 

We have already stated that on the deposition of Richard 
II. the Earl of Wiltshire, recently appointed lord of the 
Manor of Oswestry, fell a victim to popular fury, and Thomas, 
son of Richard, Earl of Arundel, was restored in blood. 
This last-named nobleman was a liberal supporter of the 
Corporation of Oswestry. In 1406 he gave it a release for 
£100 (a large sum in those days,) which that body was in- 
debted to him, in consideration of the distresses which the 
town had suffered during the Glyndwr insurrection. He 
also obtained pardon from the king for his vassals in Chirk, 
Bromneld, and the Manor of Oswestry, for the share they 
had taken in that rebellion. In the same year with the 
release he granted a most extensive Charter to the town, 
containing many matters showing the customs of the 
times. This Charter ordered, that "neither the lord nor his 
heirs should confiscate or seize the effects of persons with or 
without will in the corporation ; that no burgess should be 
compelled to be the lord's receiver-general, but only collec- 
tor of the issues arising within the borough ; that the bur- 
gesses should be discharged from all fees demanded by the 
Constable of the castle, or any of his menial servants, for any 
felonies or trespasses committed out of the same liberties, 
when brought to the prison of the castle ; saving that the 
Constable might receive one penny at his own election, from 
every mansion-house in the town, and a farthing from every 
cottage, on the feast of St. Stephen annually ; that the bur- 
gesses should be free for the future from all excise of ale, 
brewed and sold in the town, which had hitherto been payable 
at the rate of seven-pence for every Bracena cervisice expo- 
sed for sale ; that they were to be freed from the duty of 
Amobyr, or Lyre- Wyte ; that whoever lived in the house of 
a burgess, and happened to die there, the burgess was to have 
a heriot after his decease, in the same manner as the Uchel- 
wyr, or freeholders residing on the lands of the lord in the 
Hundred of Oswestry ; that no Shrewsbury ale should be sold 
in the town without license, while any ale brewed in the 
47 



TENANTS SERVICE. 

town was to be had, under the penalty of 6s. 8d. ; that none 
of the inhabitants of the lordships of Oswestry, Melverley, 
Kinardsley, Edgerley, Ruyton, and the eleven towns, should 
drive or carry any cattle, corn, or victuals, or other wares, to 
any foreign fair or market, before the same had first been expo- 
sed for sale in the town of Oswestry, under the penalty of 6s. 
8d. ; that none of the lord's tenants should be compelled to pay 
the redditus advocarii for the security of the castle," &c. 
The Amobyr of the Welsh, and the Lyre-Wyte of the Saxons, 
were fines paid by the vassal to his lord, to buy off the 
power to violate domestic relations. Pennant gives a differ- 
ent interpretation to the term Amobyr, but does not succeed 
in giving us its literal and precise meaning. There is one 
curious fact mentioned in the aforesaid Charter, and which, 
even in these days must excite a smile. The respective six- 
and-eiyhtpences of the gentlemen who now study " Coke upon 
Littleton" was actually prescribed even so far back as the fif- 
teenth century. It would be a still more curious fact developed, 
were we acquainted with the lord of the Manor's law-adviser 
when this Charter was granted, because we might perhaps 
then be able, from the "knowledge of that fact, to ascribe the 
origin, if not honour, of lawyers' six-and-eiglitpences to the 
ancient Borough of Oswestry ! 

According to Pennant, " until the time of the above-men- 
tioned Charter, the lord's Welsh tenants of the Hundred of 
Oswestry were accustomed by their tenure to keep watch 
and ward, for three days and three nights, at the four gates 
of the town, during the fairs of St. Andrew and St. Oswald, 
with a certain number of men called Kaies ; but these 
treacherously, with others, ravaged and plundered the place. 
On this the tenants were compelled to pay a sum of money 
as wages to a sufficient number of Englishmen, as the bur- 
gesses should think convenient, for the custody of the four 
gates ; and the Welsh men were for ever to be discharged from 
that duty. The vassals of the Earl of Arundel in these 
48 



glyndwr's reverses. 

parts were of a mixed nature ; either descendants of the Nor- 
man followers of Alan, or of the native Welsh, who were 
most numerous, and bore an hereditary dislike to their co- 
tenants of foreign stock. The Welsh part was called JFalcheria, 
and lay in the upper part of the parish." 

Reverting to Owain Glyndwr's career, we see that his 
escape from the Shelton Oak, at the Battle of Shrewsbury, did 
not deter him from fresh enterprises. Evidently regardless of 
the ruin of his allies — they, as Leland tells us, " whom he 
promised to unite with" at that battle — he continued to infest 
the English borders, where he committed great havoc, the 
king being unable, from the want of funds, to resist his 
aggressions. Owain's marauding parties committed serious 
damage to Shrewsbury and several of the adjoining town- 
ships, and extended their ravages as far as Buildwas Abbey, 
which they wasted with fire, so that divine service was for a 
time discontinued, and the monks were reduced to the 
greatest poverty. At length Henry directed a writ to Edward 
Charlton, Lord Powys, to raise forces with which to sub- 
due the renewed rebellion ; and similar orders were sent to 
Lords Arundel and Grey, and Sir Richard L'Strange, Lord of 
Knockin, Ellesmere, and other bordering manors. Glyndwr 
had despatched to Shrewsbury two of his best officers, 
Rhys Ddu and Philipot Scudamore, to command the insur- 
rectionary party ; but Lord Powys, having promptly obeyed 
the orders of his sovereign, fortified several castles, and 
speedily took as prisoners the above-named two leaders, 
and they were both soon afterwards executed in London. 
Holinshed says, that " Glyndwr himself in the same year, 
dreading to show his face to any creature, and finally lacking 
meat to sustain nature, for mere hunger and lack of food 
miserably pined away and died." He was living, however, six 
years later, but in a state of concealment, chiefly at the house 
of one of his daughters, married to a gentleman of Herefordshire 
named Monnington. In July, 1415, the new king Henry V., 
49 E 



DEATH OF GLYNDWR. 

anxious to leave his country in tranquillity before he engaged 
in the war with France, offered a pardon to Glyndwr ; and this 
would probably have been accepted by the Cambrian chief- 
tain, had not the negotiation been interrupted by his death, 
which occurred September 30th, 141,5, in the 61st year of 
his age. It is said that David Holbetch, Steward of the 
manors of Oswestry, Bromfleld, and Yale, and founder of the 
Oswestry Free Grammar School, took a distinguished part in 
this negotiation, and obtained the promised pardon for 
Glyndwr. Tradition states that he was buried in the 
churchyard of Monnington-on-Wye. 

With Glyndwr ceased most of the troubles and calamities 
which had too long afflicted the English and Welsh Borders. 
The superstitious charm with which Owain's name had been 
invested by his countrymen soon faded away, and his life, 
though startling in a rude and ignorant age, soon proved 
that he was " in the common roll of men ! " Shakspere was 
justified in creating him, poetically, as self-idolatrous, for his 
daring incursions and fiery movements indicate that he believed 
himself to be of the meteoric class, to curb oppression and give 
liberty to the enslaved. For years after Glyridwr's fall 
Oswestry, for aught that history tells us to the contrary, lay in 
comparative repose, entirely free from foreign aggression. 
Intestine feuds and disorders seem to have been the chief 
disturbers. The Welsh were arrayed against the English, and 
the latter appear to have had no less enmity against their 
Cambrian neighbours. To Pennant's industrious and accurate 
research we are indebted for the scanty notices collected of the 
history of this period. Among the records of the Drapers' 
Company of Shrewsbury, he tells us there is the following 
order: — "25 Eliz. 1513. Ordered, that no Draper set out for 
Oswestry on Mondays before six o'clock, on forfeiture of six 
shillings and eightpence ; and that they wear their weapons 
all the way, and go in company — not to go over the Welsh 
Bridge before the bell toll six." 
50 



WELSH CLOTH MARKET. 

However numerous and fierce marauders were in the days 
here referred to, it would seem that peaceful employments 
were nevertheless pursued by the inhabitants of Oswestry, 
and that their manufactured cloth was of so good a quality as 
to be held in high repute among the Shrewsbury Drapers. 
The " contests, robberies, and disturbances in the Marches of 
Wales" still continuing with unabated force, and both Welsh 
and English seeming to have considered everything as lawful 
plunder which they could seize in each other's territory, 
the Stewards, the Constable, and Lieutenant of Oswestry and 
Powys entered into covenants in the year 1534, to restrain 
these plundering excursions. It was agreed, that " if, aftei 
a certain day then fixed, any person of one lordship committed 
felony in the other, he should be taken and sent into the 
lordship where the offence was committed, to receive punish- 
ment ; and that if any goods or cattle were stolen from one 
lordship and conveyed into the other, the tenants and inhabi- 
tants of that lordship should either pay for the same within 
fifteen days, or otherwise four principal men should remain in 
bail, a main-prize, till they were either paid for or recovered." 

Notwithstanding these rigorous measures, the evil still con- 
tinued ; and so alarmed were certain of the inhabitants of 
Shrewsbury, and regardful of the safety of their fellow-bur- 
gesses who had to visit Oswestry market weekly, that prayers 
for their preservation were offered up in one of the churches, 
on Monday mornings, before they started on their perilous 
journey. A timid gentleman, William Jones, Esq., left to 
the Drapers' Company " one pound six-shillings and eight- 
pence, to be paid annually to the Vicar of St. Alkmond's 
Church, for reading prayers on Monday mornings, before the 
Drapers set out for Oswestry market!" Pennant informs 
us that at this period " Oswestry was the great emporium 
for Welsh cloth ; a privilege to which it was well entitled 
from its vicinity to those districts of Wales in which that im- 
portant branch of commerce was manufactured, at a period 
51 



STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 

when the English trader could not, with any degree of safety, 
trust himself in the Principality. To this town (Oswestry) 
the Drapers of Shrewsbury repaired every Monday. We 
learn the fact from a curious MS. Chronicle of the last-men- 
tioned town, which relates that 'on Monday, Dec. 5th, 1575, 
the Drapers of Shrewsbury had like to have been robbed, if 
they had not been privately warned ; but the bailiffs and a 
great company went, strongly armed, upon their usual trade 
toward Oswestry. The robbers proposed to rob them in the 
dale between Shelton and Shrewsbury, and lay over night in 
Master Sherar's barn, on the other side of the water.' The 
whole narrative, which is told much at length in the Chroni- 
cle, exhibits the unsettled police of a country slowly emerging 
from a state of barbarism, and strongly reminds the reader 
of the inimitable scene at Gadshill, so admirably pourtrayed 
by our great dramatic bard in the first part of Henry IV." 
The same writer adds, " notwithstanding, however, this and 
similar proofs of the general insecurity of the country, the 
Welsh manufacturer was unwilling to meet the purchaser even 
half way with his commodities. ' Not satisfied,' says our 
countryman Dr. Peter Heylyn, in his Cosmography, 'with 
having fixed the market at Oswestry, they sought to draw the 
staple more into their own country.' The MS. quoted above 
informs us, under the year 1582, that it would have been re- 
moved thence, ' to the great decay of that town and of 
Shrewsbury, yf Sir Thomas Bromley, being Lord Chancelor, 
had not by his great wisdom opened the same to the Queen's 
Majestie, for which godly deede theye of the said townes 
are contynewally bownde to praye daylye.' Lord Chancellor 
Bromley was a Shropshire man, and possessor, by purchase 
from the Earl of Arundel, of the Castle and Lordship of Shra- 
wardine ; he was therefore personally interested in the pros- 
perity of the county, and by his influence at Court enabled 
to promote it." It would further appear, that the market was 
continued at Oswestry, so that it is likely that Lord Brom- 
ley's interposition at Court prevailed. In 1585 the Welsh 
52 



PENTRE-POETH. 

cloth market was removed from Oswestry to Knockin, the 
plague having broken out in this borough, and destroyed 
"three-score and four persons, and no more;" according to 
the parish register. The plague continued from April to 
August, when it entirely disappeared, and the market was 
held, as before, in Oswestry. 

Oswestry was visited with other calamities some few years 
before this period. In 1542 a fire broke out in the town, which 
was so destructive, that " two long streets with great riches" 
were consumed; and in 1567 there was another fire, which 
destroyed " seven-score within the walls, and three-score with- 
out." The suburb still known by the name of Pentre-Poeth 
(the burnt end of the town) suffered severely, and may have 
derived its designation from this destructive fire ; or, as Price 
intimates, from the frequent fires that may have occurred 
there during the conflicts between the Welsh and English. 
These accidents were looked upon, at the time, through 
astrological telescopes, by Camden, the historian, and a Dr. 
Childrey. They both gravely ascribed these events to 
astrological phenomena, Camden seriously remarking, " that 
the eclipses of the sun in Aries have been very fatal to this 
place ; for in the years 1542 and 1567, when the sun was 
eclipsed in that sign, it (Oswestry) suffered much by fire ! " 
After reading such absurdity as this from men professing to be 
learned, we have reason to be thankful that we are living 
in a more enlightened and scientific age. 

A few years before the conflagration last referred to, the 
town was visited by a no less alarming evil. In 1559 pesti- 
lence consigned to the grave, within one year, more than five 
hundred of the inhabitants. The disease which thus afflicted 
the people is stated to have commenced with profuse perspi- 
ration, (from which it was called " the sweating sickness,") and 
to have continued until the death or recovery of the patient. 
Its operation was quick and powerful, and cure or death occurred 
within twenty-four hours* Those persons who were seized in 
53 



CROES WYLAN. 

the day were put to bed in their clothes to wait the issue ; and 
those seized in the night were desired to remain in bed, but not 
to sleep. The desolation of the town during the long continu- 
ance of the plague is described in affecting language *by the 
writer of the clever historical sketches, on the History of 
Oswestry, that appear in Mr. Roberts's publication, entitled 
" Oswald's Well :" — " It was then that Croeswylan received its 
name. Croes wylan, or the Cross of weeping, was there erected, 
the base of which still remains to be seen. To this, with 
superstitious reverence, all the people resorted. The diseased 
and dying sought in grief beneath its sacred shadow a prepa- 
ration for the doom to which they were appointed, and there 
they languished till that doom was fixed. Before it, the 
whole and healthy ones confessed and deplored their sins, 
and deprecated the vengeance of heaven. Throughout the 
succeeding century this foul contagion lurked on our shores, 
and at intervals visited our town, converting it into a vast 
charnel house. Its attacks were so insidious and sudden 
that the glow of health suffered no process of removal, but in- 
stantly fled, as scared and affrighted on the approach of the 
fell devourer. During its presence no sights were to be seen 
but the wan and sickly visage of those who were dying, or 
the panic-stricken gaze of the man yet uninfected, almost 
delirious with alarm, and starting from the touch of the dearest 
friend of his heart. The air was rent with shrieks and laden 
with lamentation. Death alone seemed contented and satis- 
fied, and sat like a monster unmoved as he banqueted on 
hundreds of his victims. All commerce was at a stand-still. 
Every house was locked, the inmates scarcely venturing upon 
a communication with each other, much less exposing them- 
selves to contact with those without. With foreboding 
reluctance they breathed the breath of heaven, pregnant as it 
was with the seeds of death. If one of their number was 
attacked, no consideration of friendship or kindred spared him 
the aggravation of being hurled into the street, there to await 
the regular arrival of the dead-cart. That sad accompani- 
54 



> 



RECORDS OF THE PLAGUE. 

ment of the contagion, the gibbet of the scene, rolled sullenly 
along the death-smitten streets upon its gloomy mission, and 
never returned without the sad evidences of the rapid pro- 
gress of the desolating scourge. In the ears of the expiring 
it must have sounded like the toll of the passing bell, the 
knell of their speedy departure. Upon it, whether dead or 
just gasping for life, the diseased victims were heaped, and 
hurried off to the brink of a huge pit, dug, probably, in a 
corner of the Old Churchyard, into which they were remorse- 
lessly thrown. Everything bespoke the presence and work- 
ing of a mighty power, in league with * the King of terrors.' 
All human ties were forcibly disrupted, every human sym- 
pathy was sacrilegiously immolated, until the people were 
reduced to that extremity of sadness, in which life is burden- 
some for its sorrows, and death terrible for the grim and 
ghastly shroud in which it lies hid." 

The market was held, during the Plague, at Croes wylan, 
that the people from the surrounding country-places should 
not visit the town, and thereby suffer from the infection. No 
doubt that with the dreadful scourge stalked, hand in hand, 
gaunt poverty. It may be easily imagined that the poor 
suffered severely from the sickness, and that many of them 
required relief. We have some testimony before us that the 
public authorities of the time sympathized with the sufferers. 
The following extracts from the "Accompt of Richard ap 
Lley, Muringer of the town of Oswestr, for and from the xvj 
day of September, in the 2nd yere of our sovraynge Lady 
Elizabeth," show how pecuniary aid was rendered to certain 
parties : — 

" The sayde accomtante doth asc alowaunce for rent bayted to the Towlers 
(toll-takers) for one qr. in considracion of the PLAGE : 

s. d. 
Fyrst to the executors of John Vyghan - - xx . . 

Allso, &c. rent bayted to Thomas ap Re. for Wolyws-gate - xx . . 
Allso, &c. to David Glover the elder, for Newe-gate - - xiij iiij 

Allso, &c. to Wyling Lloyd, for Betresce-gate - - x . . 

55 



ALLOWANCE TO THE SUFFERERS. 

Allso, &c. to David ap David, for Blak gate - 

Allso, &c. rent of Crofft-pystil, in the hande of Re. ap Mrdyth, 

dyssessed __-_-__ 

Allso, &c. money payde for wrytinge of a suplycacion to my lord 

of Arundell ______ 

Allso, &c. for Lewys Tayler, and Guttyn Furbur, beinge unpayde 

for setting of stales, by reason of the Plage 
Allso, &c. for Re. Lewther, for one qr. beinge absent from the 
towne - - 

Allso, &c. for a qr. rent unto tanners beinge apsentin 
in tyme of the plage ; and fyrste, Thomas Baker 
(2 other similar items) _ - - - 

Itm. The sayde accomptaunt dothe asc alowaunce for 
them that are deade or fled, and them that are in 
decaye; and fyrst, Thomas ap John Wyling, beinge 
a poore man (five others fled, &c.) 
Imp. the sayde accountant, &c. Lewys, bucher, that 
is dead (one for the like and 7 fled) - 
Edward Gorg, fled (2 others fled) - 
David ap sr. Re. saythe that he dothe not occupey 
his backhowes, and prayth alowance 
David Bobyth hathe ben longe secke, and asc alo - 
Jonet vrch. David ap Morys asc alowance for a qr. Rent 

(1 other) - 

Edward Lloyd praythe alowance for a qr. - 
David Glover the elder, in lycke manner 
Richard Salter was longe sycke, and praythe alowance 
Thomas Glover praythe alowaunce for half a yere ; 
aledginge, that he sold no alle for that space 
(3 others) ----- 



Tanners. 



Glovers. 



Buchers. 

Corvsers. 
Backers. 



Hucksters. 



Alle Selers. 



ij •• 
.. xij 
. . xiiij 
. . xx 

. . xiiij 
.. xij 



• X JJ 
xiiij 

x iijj 



Payments for the provision of the genrall Feast unto the Coo-burgesses 
according to the aunsient costom, holden the vth day of Desember, in the 
thrydeyere of the raynge of our sovraynge laydeEllizabeth, by the grace of 
God quene of England, &c. at the making of this accompt : 

». d. 
Whete. Fyrste, the saide accomptaunt hathe payde for ii stryckes 

and a hoope of whette for brede and for peys - xj . . 

Maullt. Allso payde for iii strycke of maullt - - - xij . . 

Boochers. Allso payde for a qr. and ii rybes of byff - vj viij 

Allso payde for mytton for to make peys for this feast ij vj 

for iij/&. ressyns - . . xij 

s pep - - - . . v ij 

56 



FAMINE. 

Cloves, fyc. Allso payde for cloves, masses, aud saffrone - - . . vj 

Allso payde for synamon and sugr. - - - . . vij 

Itm. pd. for buttr. spent at this feast - - - .viij 

Chese. Allso payde for chesses - - - - ij ix 

Nyttes, Sfc. Allso pd. for appells and nyttes - - - . . xvj 

Saullt. Allso payde for a hoope of sallt for the byfF - - . . x 

This Accompt was made before us, the persoiis under-named, then 
Bailiff e of the said Towne, John Stanney, 

Thomas Evans. 

With these awful calamities the people endured severe 
privation, both as to food and clothing. Provisions had risen 
so enormously in price as to place even the coarsest food 
beyond the reach of the poor. We are told that so deficient 
were the working-classes of the commonest provision, that they 
were glad to resort, for subsistence, to horse-bread, composed 
of beans, oats, and bran. " The good old times " are 
too frequently quoted as periods of comfort, compared with 
the present days ; but such facts as have been now related 
must convince every Englishman of right feeling that, 
however humble his lot, he still possesses " a goodly heritage." 

For a considerable time no event occurred in Oswestry 
worthy of detailed notice. In the 42nd of Elizabeth, Coke, 
Attorney-General, acknowledges all the liberties and franchises 
of Oswestry, by an order that all further proceedings on the 
part of the Crown, on a writ of Quo Warranto against the 
Bailiffs and Burgesses of Oswestry, should wholly cease. 
In 1603 a dispute took place between the Bailiffs, Burgesses, 
&c. and the Earl of Suffolk, then lord and owner of the town 
and manor, the former body having, in numerous assembly, 
resolved to maintain the rights and privileges granted to them 
by Richard II., and confirmed by their "late sovereigne of 
famous memorye, queene Elizabeth." A petition setting 
forth their grievances, mainly caused by the Earl of Suffolk's 
steward, had been presented by them to the Lord President 
of the Marches ; to which Lord Suffolk replied as follows: — 
57 



Suffolk's letter. 

" To his good frelnds, the Burgesses and Townesmen of his Towne and 
Manor of Oswester : 

I have of late receaved a Letter from my hon ble good Lord and 
freind, the L. President of Wales, w ch declared unto mee, a great desire in 
his Lpp to give some satisfaction to you uppon a Peticon given him from 
yo r Towne, as exceptinge against the Course w ch Mr. Lloyd, my Officer, 
healde with you. Nowe you must knowe, that I doe, and will avowe him 
in such things as he, in his discreation, shall find to bee profitable for mee 
w ch , perchaunce, may bee displeasinge to you, but herin you may further 
wronge yo r selves then you are aware off; for yf you shall deny to yeald 
mee thoes Rights & Proffits that are due unto me, as Lord of the Manor, 
you must then knowe, that I doe look for at Mr. Lloyds hands such a 
resistance of yo r wills as I may not bee prejudized thereby : & I knowe his 
understandinge & discreation is such, as he would not drawe mee into 
frivolous and needles questions. — Therefore I must tell you, that yf you 
have refused the duties wh ch belonge unto mee, that I will execute my 
remedies as the lawes of the Land will allowe mee. But, becawse I wolde 
not be thought rigorous, and that yt may appeare that my L : President 
hath the powre of an honorable & kind ffreind in mee, I am contented that 
yf you doe sende upp to the Tearme at Winchester, such as shall have 
powre to followe the cawse in the behaulf of you all, that then the questions 
w ch are risen between the Steward & you shall, yf yt may be, have an end; 
by Councill chosen of each syde ; w ch Course shall please mee well : but yf 
yt happen otherwise, the fault shall not be myne, for I desire not contencons ; 
but then of necessety, Lawe must determyn them. In the meane tyme, I 
charge you all to carry yo r selves respectively and duetifully to my Officers ; 
for you must learn to obey, yf you will desire to be obeyed ; w ch you, being 
a Corporate Towne, should principally desire. And soe I leave you for this 
tyme, untill I heare further from you. From the Court at Wylton, this 
25th of October, 1603. 

Yo r Lovinge freind & Lord, 

SUFFOLKE." 

James I. in 1616, granted a Charter to the town, thus 
removing " divers doubts and ambiguities " which had " arisen 
concerning the ancient liberties, francheses, &c, of the town 
and borough of Oswaldstre," and extending their liberties and 
privileges, as well as confirming them a body corporate, by 
the name of " the BaylifF and Burgesses of Oswestry, in the 
Countie of Salope." 
58 



PLOT TO REMOVE THE MARKET. 

About this period a heavy blow was struck at the commerce 
of the town, by the Drapers of Shrewsbury (a reference to 
whose complaints and apprehensions has already been made), 
"who weary," says Pennant, "of their weekly journeys to 
Oswestry, determined to transfer the market to their own 
town, from that in which Queen Elizabeth had established 
it. But this attempt proved in the first instance abortive. 
The Lordship of Oswestry was enjoyed at this time by 
Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, to whom it had been 
granted by the late queen, in the 43rd year of her reign. 
He was in great favour with James, in whose Court he held 
the office of Lord Chamberlain, and to whom he had recently 
recommended himself by his vigilance and promptitude in the 
discovery of the Gunpowder Plot. Possessed of the highest 
notions of the privileges of the peerage, and jealous of the 
infringement of his rights by the traders of Salop, he issued 
his mandate to them by one of their own body, — Arthur 
Kynaston, merchant of the staple, a younger brother of the 
house of Ruyton, — to desist from such attempts in future. 
Their answer is recorded in their own books : it is entitled 
1 The copy of a letter sent by the Company to the Earle of 
Suffolk, Lord Chamberlain of his Majestie's househoulde, ye 
24th June, 1609.' ' Right Honerabell, — Your letter bearing 
date the second of this June, by the hands of Mr. Kiniston 
wee have received : wherein ytt appereth yor Lordship was 
informed that wee the Societie of Drapers wentt aboute by 
underarte and menenesse to withdraw your markett of Walsh 
clothe from your towne of Oswester ; ' and they proceed to 
exculpate themselves from the charge in those phrases of 
submission which were in that day the established usage of 
inferiors in their addresses to those above them. This was 
their tone during the plenitude of the Earl's power, which, 
five years after the date of this letter, received a great increase 
by his appointment to the exalted post of Lord High 
Treasurer of England. During this time we may be sure 
59 



ITS SUCCESS. 

* the market for frize and cottons continued, where, accord- 
ing to Heylin, it was originally fixed, at Oswestry.' But 
in 1618, the King's necessities caused an enquiry into the 
management of the treasury, and Suffolk, whose unbounded 
expenses in his magnificent palace at Audley-End, had 
brought him into pecuniary difficulties, was fined by the 
Court of Star Chamber in the vast sum of £30,000, and 
dismissed from all his employments. The clemency of James 
mitigated this enormous fine, but the influence of the Earl of 
Suffolk was gone; and in 1621 the Shrewsbury Drapers 
made an order upon the books of their Company, ' That they 
will not buy cloth at Oswestry, or elsewhere than in Salop." 

As we have shewn in a preceding page, the struggles of the 
Welsh, to recover the freedom they had lost, terminated with 
the death of their last great leader, Owain Glyndwr. " Their 
wild spirit of independence, and their enthusiasm for liberty," 
says the eloquent historian whom we have already quoted, 
" from this period gradually declined. The blood of their 
beloved Princes was nearly extinct ; and their native bravery 
was subdued, or rendered ineffectual, by their intestine divisions 
and by their repeated misfortunes. When fierce valour and 
unregulated freedom are opposed to discipline, to enlarged 
views, and to sound policy, the contest is very unequal : it is 
not therefore surprising that the genius of England at length 
obtained the ascendancy. It was, indeed, an interesting 
spectacle, and might justly have excited indignation and 
pity, to have seen an ancient and gallant nation, falling the 
victims of private ambition, or sinking under the weight of a 
superior power. But such emotions, which were then due to 
that injured people, have lost at this period their force and 
their poignancy. A new train of ideas arises ; when we see 
that the change is beneficial to the vanquished — when we see 
a wild and precarious liberty succeeded by a freedom which 
is secured by equal and fixed laws — when we see manners 
hostile and barbarous, and a spirit of rapine and cruelty, 
60 



THE CIVIL WARS. 

softened down into the arts of peace, and the milder arts of 
civilized life — when we see this Remnant of the Ancient 
Britons uniting in interests, and mingling in friendship with 
their conquerors, and enjoying with them the same constitu- 
tional liberties ; the purity of which, we trust, will continue 
uncorrupted as long as the British Empire shall be numbered 
among the nations of the earth." 

We now approach a period in our national history which 
has ever been viewed, by opposing political parties, in a 
conflicting spirit. The turbulent elements of 

THE CIVIL WARS 

were not allayed until Death had silenced the two great actors 
in the tragic and murderous drama. The present volume, 
devoted principally to local history, is not an appropriate 
organ in which to discuss the merits and demerits of Charles 
I. and his sturdy rival Cromwell. Charles was doubtless 
guilty of many gross violations of his prerogative, and plunged 
into a reckless course of misgovernment, accompanied with 
galling taxation, which the people, beginning to learn the 
lessons of liberty, and to understand the genius of the British 
constitution, would not tamely submit to. 

The ill-fated monarch, looking at him through the long 
vista of two centuries, was greatly to be pitied. The son of 
a king, who disregarded the instructions of his wise preceptor, 
George Buchanan, and who, in his rule over the English 
people, was prodigal, unprincipled, and tyrannical, he ascended 
the throne with a corrupt education, and urged to despotism 
and injustice by his infamous minister Villiers, Duke of 
Buckingham, he speedily exhibited in his regal capacity, a 
passion for power, which, as Macauley remarks, soon became 
" a predominant vice ; idolatry to his regal prerogative, his 
governing principle. The interests of the crown legitimated 
every measure, and sanctified in his eye the widest deviation 
61 



CHARACTER OF CHARLES I. 

from moral rule." Such was the son of a kingly father who was 
fond of cockfighting, and the brutal pleasures of inebriation, 
who utterly neglected the affairs of state on the plea that "he 
should not make a slave of himself; " who sold titles and 
privileges of all kinds, that his vices might be fed ; and who 
basely deprived people of their patents, after having paid for 
them to himself. These were only a small portion of the 
sire's iniquities. What surprise then can be entertained that 
Charles, his son, walked much in the father's footsteps ! 
Notwithstanding his despotic and infatuated measures, to 
which all the evils of the civil wars may be traced, yet he had 
many excellencies ; and the closing scene of his unhappy life 
proved that had he been blessed with a wiser tutelage, and 
taught to govern with a just and righteous hand, he might 
have descended into the tomb with virtue and honour, 
embalmed in the grateful recollections of his country. 

Of his powerful rival and successor much has, and still may 
be said, in his praise and condemnation. His character, 
however, singular and erratic as it was, was mixed, as that of 
other men; and whilst he displayed a religious enthusiasm 
and sanctity in most of his public acts, apparently impressed 
with the conviction that he "was doing God service" in the 
course in which he had embarked ; yet the troublous events 
of his life — the fears, anxieties, and weakness of his mortal 
nature — must have convinced him, if he sincerely believed 
in the religion of which he made so loud and trumpet-tongued 
a profession, that " he had done many things which he ought 
not to have done, and left undone many things he ought to 
have done." Now that we look calmly back upon Cromwell's 
life, we can see much in his administrative policy that elevated 
the nation during his transient rule, and that has shed its 
salutary influences even upon the present generation ; but 
the deep, dark spot in his escutcheon — the murder of Charles 
— a crime which harrows up the feelings, and rouses the 
indignation of all right-minded men — that foul murder, with 
62 



COLONEL LLOYD. 

all its cruel and inhuman associations, blots out any excellency 
that he ever did achieve, and stamps his character indelibly 
as that of a religious, enthusiastic professor only, and not of a 
Christian man. Charles may have been guilty, and deserving 
of punishment for his misrule ; but we have yet to learn that 
Cromwell had plenary power to execute the mandate of 
Jehovah, and to have adopted the inspired exclamation, 
"Vengeance is Mine!" 

"At the breaking out of the Civil Wars," says Pennant, 
" the whole of Shropshire, with few exceptions of persons and 
none of places, adhered to the cause of royalty. Oswestry, 
like the rest, was garrisoned for the king. The town was 
defended by a new gate and draw-bridge ; the castle was 
fortified very strongly ; and to prevent it from being com- 
manded by the church, in case of the capture of the town, 
the steeple was pulled down, and a part of the sacred edifice 
was also demolished." The same popular author, with his 
fervid nationality, and strong royalist principles, adds, with 
evident pride and delight, " The garrison consisted chiefly 
of Welsh (a people almost to a man staunch in the cause of 
their sovereign)." The governor of Oswestry Castle at this 
disturbed period was a Colonel Lloyd. Edward Lloyd, Esq., 
of Llanvorda, compounded for his estates, as a royalist, in the 
sum of £300; and at the period of which we write (1643) 
he was in the prime of life, and therefore physically able to 
assume the important command of Governor of the Castle. 
Colonel Thomas Mytton, of Halston, near Oswestry, a man 
well skilled in military art, and of great personal courage, 
had united as a commander with the Parliamentary forces 
and first signalized himself in an assault upon the town of 
Wem, which he seized and garrisoned ; that place soon 
became the centre from which attacks were directed against 
the royalist garrisons in the neighbouring towns. Mytton's 
success at Wem was achieved in the latter end of August, 
1643 ; and although he actively assisted the Parliamentary 
63 



THE PLOT. 

army in its attacks upon other parts of the country, he 
frequently visited Wem to concert measures for fresh conquests. 
In January of the following year, a plan was there determined 
upon for a sudden and covert attack upon Oswestry. The 
story is on record that Mytton well knew the bon vivant 
qualities of the Governor of Oswestry. It was said of this 
royalist Commandant, that in the social circle he was the life 
and soul of the company, and that when he entered upon 
the convivialities of the table, he found it a difficult matter to 
interrupt the rosy hours by wending homewards. Colonel 
Mytton might know the frailties of his gallant opponent ; and, 
with a strategetic art unworthy of a modern general, he devised 
a scheme for capturing the Governor and seizing the town of 
Oswestry. The anecdote proceeds to state, that Colonel 
Lloyd was to be invited to dinner at the house of a neigh- 
bouring gentleman ; and Mytton calculated that no dinner 
invitation would be refused by good-humoured Col. Lloyd. 
The plot included the spread of further net-work, in which 
the unsuspecting Governor was to be surely caught. His 
gastronomic and vinous attachments were to be plentifully 
gratified ; and whilst indulging in bacchanalian revels, a 
military force, under Mytton's direction, was to enter the 
dining room in which the innocent Governor was carousing* 
to seize him, vi et armis, take him before his own garrison, in 
Oswestry, and there compel him to issue orders to his officers 
to surrender the town and castle. The plot, as we have 
described it, was partly successful, but eventually failed. 
Colonel Lloyd accepted the apparently-friendly invitation to 
dinner ; and all went merrily on with him for a brief period. 
The detachment of troops was sent from Wem to take him 
prisoner, so that the first act of the drama was nearly 
completed. Whilst, however, the Parliamentarians were on 
their way to surprise him, two of their scouts were seized by 
some royalist friends ; they confessed their share in the 
treacherous plot ; the Colonel was apprized of the danger 
he was in, fled from the habitation of his Judas-like host, 
64 



ATTACK ON THE TOWN. 

reached the "post of honour" which he had so improperly- 
abandoned for the pleasures of the table, and secured from 
the grasp of his enemies both the town and castle. Colonel 
Lloyd's misconduct was reported, it seems, to the royalist 
commander-in-chief, who removed him from his important 
position, and appointed as his successor Sir Absetts Shipman. 

The parliamentary leaders were numerous and powerful, 
and they were all fired with zeal and enthusiasm in the cause 
which they espoused. The town of Oswestry was a military 
post of distinction in their eyes ; and to possess it was an 
achievement " devoutly to be wished." Oswestry stood on a 
towering height, vigilantly watching the varied movements 
of the parliamentary hosts, and protecting the communication 
between the town and Wales. The opposite party were 
equally active and observant. Colonel Mytton was well 
acquainted, from his local connexion, with the strength and 
resources of the town,- and brought to his aid, in his meditated 
attack upon it, Sir Thomas Fairfax, the equal to Cromwell 
in military tactics. In the month of March, 1644, Fairfax 
and Mytton, with a strong force under their command, made 
a sudden attack upon the town, which was gallantly repulsed 
by Prince Rupert (the King's nephew), who commanded the 
royalist troops in garrison. This triumph was but of short 
duration, for the town was attacked in a few months afterwards, 
and in this renewed onslaught, the parliamentary forces were 
victors. The Battle of Oswestry, if such it may be called, 
was fought on the 22nd June. The Earl of Denbigh, a 
young parliamentary leader of some military talents, and son 
of a nobleman who had died in defence of the crown, suddenly 
left the main body of his army, and marched, with his 
" forlorn hope " upon Oswestry, determined upon taking 
the town by a coup de main. He reached the vicinity in 
company with Colonel Mytton, about two o'clock in the 
afternoon of June the 22nd, the former probably knowing, 
from the " false brethren," as spies were then called, that 
65 F 



CRANAGES DARING. 

the garrison was partly defenceless, the Governor having 
imprudently gone to Shrewsbury with certain parliamentary 
prisoners. Denbigh's force consisted merely of two hundred 
infantry, and two troops of cavalry. The engagement was 
short and sharp. After a hot affair of about two hours, in 
which Lord Denbigh's artillery played fiercely upon the 
garrison with small and great shot, a breach was made in the 
walls of the town, and the infantry poured in, headed by 
Major Fraser, with the loss of only one man killed and three 
wounded. t* The New-gate," adds Pennant, " was next 
demolished by the cannon, when a young fellow, one George 
Cranage, went with a hatchet, and cutting down the chains 
of the draw -bridge, enabled the cavalry also to enter. The 
besieged made an attempt to maintain the Church, but 
soon finding it untenable, fled to the castle. Hither they 
were closely pursued, and the pioneers were quickly called in 
to undermine its walls ; in which, we are informed, the skill 
as well as valour of Colonel Mytton was very conspicuous. 
He was probably enabled, from his residence in the neighr- 
bourhood, to direct the miners to proceed with most effect. 
But the daring valour of Cranage again anticipated these 
slower operations. He was persuaded to hang a Buitar (a 
petard) at the castle-^gate ! Being well animated with sack, 
he undertook this desperate attempt, crept with the engine 
from house to house, till he got to that next to the castle, 
fastened it to the gate, set fire to it, and escaped unhurt ! 
The gate was then burst open, and the garrison, finding it 
impossible to make any further resistance, surrendered the 
castle upon promise of quarter for their lives. * * * 

It is greatly to the honour of the victorious commanders that 
they restrained their soldiers from pillage, at the expense of 
a gratuity of £500. One can scarcely err in ascribing this 
noble and uncommon act of mercy to Colonel Mytton's 
solicitude for the welfare of his neighbours. The Earl 
dispatched intelligence of his success to the Parliament. 
Pis letter was read to the House of Commons, on the 27tl? 



CALUMNIES AGAINST THE VICTORS. 

June, giving an account of his taking the town and castle of 
Oswaldstree, with 400 prisoners and 300 arms. Thanks were 
voted to him for this his good service, and former testimonies 
of affection to the house." The circumstantial narrative 
proceeds to state that "his Lordship returned, after this 
exploit, to his main army at Drayton," and left Colonel 
Mytton in defence of the town. The fall of Oswestry was a 
severe blow to the royal party. Besides opening a door for 
the reduction of North Wales to the power of the Parliament, 
it lowered them in the scale of public opinion, a loss, in the 
declining posture of their affairs, of incalculable importance. 
Active and energetic as were both Lord Denbigh and Colonel 
Mytton, in their attack upon Oswestry, still they did not 
escape the slanders even of their own party. The Earl of 
Denbigh seems to have felt their calumnies acutely, for a few 
months after the siege his Lordship wrote a letter to Mytton, 
vindicating the gallantry of both; which we subjoin: — 

"COLL. MITTON, 

I will not trouble you with the injuries 
that are offered to you and myselfe, by the Committe of Wem. I am sure 
you have deserved more of the Parliament then the rest of that Committe. 
Captaine dive, as I am informed, reports I was not at the takeing of 
Oswaldstre, and that my horse stood att too great a distance ; I am sure 
they entred with the foote ; but the false representations of passages heere 
shall not divert me from those occasions that may fully expresse me to be 

Your faithfull frend and servant, 
"Condor, 29th Oct. 1644." DENBIGH." 

At this period the King's position was critical and alarming. 
In the early part of the month he determined to take refuge 
within the walls of Shrewsbury, in his march through Worcester 
and Bewdley. Waller, the parliamentary leader, hearing of 
Charles's movements, broke up from Oxford, and hastened 
in the direction of Shropshire. On this intelligence the King 
left Shrewsbury, and retraced his steps. The battle of Copredy 
Bridge (June 29th) terminated in the defeat of the parliamentary 
forces ; and in July the Earl of Denbigh, encouraged by his 
success at Oswestry, drew his forces towards Shrewsbury, bujfc 
67 



MR. NEWPORT. 

was repulsed by the royalist army, with a loss of 120 of his 
men. The King's defeat at Marston Moor (July 3rd) added, 
however, to his disasters and dangers. The whole of Shrop- 
shire was in arms, and jeopardy and distress stared every 
man in the face. 

Among the prisoners taken in the late disaster at Oswestry 
was Francis Newport, Esq., who had served both in the short 
and long Parliaments. The historians of Shrewsbury have 
furnished us with an interesting account of this distinguished 
man : — " Mr. Newport was son and heir of Sir Richard 
Newport, of High Ercall, one of the knights of the shire. 
This young gentleman was but just eligible to serve in 
parliament, having arrived at full age only on the 23rd day of 
the preceding February. He manifested the same ardent 
loyalty which actuated his father : and ventured, with rare but 
honourable gallantry, to vote for the acquittal of Lord 
Strafford, at a time when such votes exposed those who gave 
them to no small personal hazard ; the populace, with their 
usual toleration of sentiments differing from their own, 
denouncing all such, fifty-six in number, as Straffordians ; 
and exposing their names to execration and danger by public 
placards. Mr. Newport was soon expelled from the house as 
a malignant • appeared in arms against the parliament ; and 
was among the prisoners taken at Oswestry, on the capture 
of that town by the Earl of Denbigh and Colonel Mytton. It 
is needless to say that he suffered very considerably in his 
estate : being obliged to compound in the large sum of £5284, 
in addition to £3287, and £170 a year extorted from his 
father for the same crime of loyalty. Yet though attached to 
the monarchy, he was friendly to the rights of the subject; 
and it is not a little remarkable, that he who had suffered so 
deeply for the first Charles, was so much disgusted by the 
base and arbitary measures of the two succeeding kings, by 
the last of whom he had the honour of being dismissed from 
the office of lord lieutenant of this county ; that he was a 
68 



COLONEL MARROWS ASSAULT. 

great promoter of the Revolution, and was excepted, by the 
abdicated monarch, from his general pardon. He was created 
earl of Bradford by king William ; and died Sept., 1708, in 
the eighty-ninth year of his age." 

The town of Oswestry was now in the hands of the parliament- 
arians, under the temporary Governorship of Colonel Mytton, 
but was not long permitted to remain quietly in the power of 
the victors. Only one short week elapsed before a formidable 
attempt was made by part of the royalist army, under Colonel 
Marrow, a skilful and intrepid commander, to retake the 
town, and drive the parliamentary forces from their position. 
Colonel Marrow invested the town with 3,500 infantry, and 
1,500 cavalry, and maintained a close siege for the three 
following days. This sudden assault greatly embarrassed 
Colonel Mytton, whose only hope for relief was from Sir 
Thomas Myddleton, his kinsman by marriage, who was then 
stationed at Knutsford, in Cheshire, more than fifty miles 
distant. Colonel Mytton, however, succeeded in making Sir 
Thomas acquainted with his position in less than twelve 
hours from the commencement of the royalist attack ; and the 
gallant knight, who was heartily engaged in the parliamentary 
cause, immediately mustered three regiments, namely, Booth's, 
Mainwaring's, and Croxen's, with Major Lothian at the head 
of the reserve, and marching onwards with all speed, reached 
in two days within sight of Oswestry — it is supposed between 
Halston and Whittington. During this interval of time the 
royalists had not obtained full possession of the town, though 
consisting, as Sir Thomas Myddleton says, " of the most 
valiant commanders and soldiers, drawn out of the garrisons 
of Chester, Cheshire, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, Ludlow, 
Denbighshire, Flintshire, and other places." They had 
possessed themselves of the Church, but had made no inroad 
upon the Castle. Myddleton's approach having been made 
known, Colonel Marrow marched out from the town, deter- 
mined to attack him before his troops could recruit themselves 
69 



THE DEFEAT AND PURSUIT. 

after their long march. " They had taken the passage of 
water neere to Whittington," says Sir Thomas, in his letter to 
Lenthall, the Speaker, " and very furiously assaulted and 
charged us, but were repulsed and forced to retire, through the 
courage of our horse, who most courageously entertained the 
enemy. Three several times the skirmish was doubtful ; 
either side being forced so often to retreat. But in the end, 
our foot forces, coming up, relieved the horse, beat back the 
enemy, and pursued them with such force, that our horse 
being thereby encouraged, which indeed was formerly weary, 
joining with the foot, they put the enemy to an absolute flight, 
in which we pursued them five miles towards Shrewsbury, 
to a place called ' Felton Heath,' and where we remained 
after their flight, again masters of the field. In the skirmish 
with the enemy, and in the pursuite, we lost several of our 
horse, some of our troopers, but never a footman, which I am 
yet informed of. As for the enemy they lost several stout 
men ; had many of them taken prisoners, some of them being 
of great quality, as the Lord Newport's eldest son ; and 
besides, in their flight, such was their haste, that we found in 
our pursuite the highway as it were strewed with bread, cheese, 
bacon, and other good provisions ; clothes, and such necessary 
appurtenances to an army, besides some whole veals and 
muttons, new killed/' Sir Thomas adds, that " his forces 
followed up their blow nearly to Shrewsbury, and that Majors 
Manley and Whitney were afterwards taken under the walls 
of that town, in pursuite of them." 

This aiFair closed the struggle between the royalist and 
parliamentary forces for the possession of Oswestry. On the 
very day on which Sir Thomas Myddleton raised the siege, 
Prince Rupert was signally defeated at Marston Moor, with 
the loss of ten thousand men killed and taken prisoners. 
Colonel Mytton must subsequently have delegated his 
command as temporary Governor of Oswestry, as we find him 
soon afterwards actively engaged in commanding the parlia- 
70 



AN OFFER OF AID. 

ihentary troops in the conquest of Shrewsbury. That event 
happened early in 1645, when the town was placed in the hands 
of the parliamentarians. At this period we find Mytton named^ 
in several public documents* as Major- General in the 
parliamentary army* and some time afterwards as Commander- 
in-chief of the forces in North Wales* 

All the historical records referring to this period give 
evidence of the arduous duties of General Mytton, and of the 
difficulties which he had suffered in maintaining his hold upori 
Oswestry. A letter which we here give indicates the straits 
he was in, and at the same time the friendly offers of support 
made to him in the county. The letter is from a Mr. Edward 
Mynshull, of Bearstone, near Drayton :— 

" Hono ble < S r > 

I came to Drayton, hearinge you were there^ 
butt unfortunately mist of you, yo r honor lyeinge in Stafforde the night 
before; I have since then waited yo r retorne from London, haveinge 30 
able men in readiness, and 20 of them well armed, to doe yo r honor 
servise. I have kepte them together upon my owne charge, and should 
have bin glad they might have bin accepted in Ossestrie, to doe duty for 
theire free quarters till yo r honor had returned. I motioned this to Major 
Goldegay, butt itt could nott be granted without an order from the 
Comitte. S r > I am resolved to doe you servise, or no man ; and for my 
fidelity, I will engage £400, paid in Shropshire, and if you please, as much 
in Cheshire ; if yo r honor please, I could wish to have a comission sent me' 
by the first, because I only tooke itt in direction from yo 1 * honor, and 
whether thatt may suporte me in yo r honor's absence, (should I be 
questioned) I make a doubte of. S r > my request is, I may have order by 
the first, to martch to Osestree, where I and my men will doe duty for free 
quarters, (requireinge noe pay) till yo T honor retorneth ; and lett me 
receive order from Major Goldegay to thatt purpose, if you soe please, for 
were I settled in a garrison, I could have men sufficient. I beseech 
yo^" honor retorne me yo r pleasure by the first, and I shall willingly embrace 
yo r commands ; if yo r honor send to Hugh Bate, Shoemaker, in Wem, he 
will convey yo r letter to Mr. Jo 11 - Grosvenor, in Berson, from whence itt will 
come safe to me. S r > I pray for yo r honors prosperity and safe retorne, 
and whilst I live I shall remaine 

Att yo r servise, 
"Berson, April 25th, 1645/' EDWARDE MYNSHULL." 

71 



GOVERNORSHIP OF OSWESTRY. 

The fall of Shrewsbury into the power of the Parliament 
was marked by " a solemn thanksgiving throughout the City 
of London," on the 12th March ; Mytton was summoned to 
appear before the House of Commons on the 29th of that 
month, and " Master Speaker, in the name, and by the 
command of the whole House, gave him hearty thanks for his 
many and faithfull services done to the state ; giving him 
all encouragement to persist in the same : especially for that 
gallant service of Shrewsbury ; assuring him that he shall 
never want the encouragement of the House of Parliament in 
his undertakings." 

General Mytton had evidently embarked all his energies in 
the parliamentary cause ; yet notwithstanding the tribute paid 
to him by the Commons, it does not appear that he obtained 
from that source any more substantial honours. This neglect 
seems to have given him much pain. A letter to him from 
the Duke of Northumberland, about this period, shews that 
even the Governorship of Oswestry was not actually accorded 
to him till late in the year 1645. The letter we subjoin : — 

"S* 

By an indisposition in my health, I have not beene able 
for some dayes to attend the Committie of both kingdomes, so as I can not 
give you so good an account of your businesse as I desired, but I heare 
that a commission for your being governor of Oswallds-tree is alreadie signed ; 
to-morrow I shall make a further enquirie after this particular, and if it be 
in my power to contribute any thing towards your satisfaction, none shall 
more readily assist you then 

Your very affectionate freind and servant, 
"London, Nov. 21, 1645." NORTHUMBERLAND." 

"For my very loveing Freind, Col. Mytton." 

The conquest of Shrewsbury, by the parliamentary troops, 
is generally acknowledged to have been achieved by the 
gallantry and superior tactics of General Mytton ; and having 
72 



INGRATITUDE OF THE PARLIAMENT. 

accomplished so signal a service for his party, he naturally 
expected, now that the Governorship of that town was 
vacant, that the office would be conferred upon him. His 
ancient relation to the town, his ancestors having been 
inhabitants and burgesses for upwards of four centuries, added 
strength to his claim. All his important services to the 
Parliament were, however, of no weight, and the Governorship 
was bestowed upon another man. We are told that " Colonel 
Mytton's politics were getting very fast out of fashion. He 
had sided with the Parliament only for the limitation of 
prerogative, not for the subversion of the monarchy. The 
Presbyterians, to whom, it appears, he belonged, had no 
insurmountable objections to the office of a king, provided he 
was under their controul : or to a national establishment of 
religion, if its revenues were at their disposal. But those who 
commence important changes in a state have seldom the 
satisfaction of reaping the fruit of their labours. Spirits more 
ardent, with views more extensive, step in between them and. 
the consummation of their designs." With Sir William 
Waller, another of the ablest and most successful commanders 
of the Presbyterian party, he could say, " after the expence 
of so much blood and treasure, all the difference between 
our former and present estate is this, that before-time, 
under the complaint of a slavery we lived like freemen ; and 
now, under the notion of a freedom, we live like slaves, 
enforced by continual taxes and oppressions, to maintain and 
feed on our miseries." 

Although General Myttonhad been thus ungratefully treated 
by the Parliament, he still occupied his military position, for 
we find that in 1648 he was engaged with Sir Thomas 
Myddleton in the attack upon Caernarvonshire and Anglesey. 
In June of that year the Speaker of the House of Commons 
communicated to him a letter, highly approving his " good 
and faithfull service " against " Sir John Owen and his 
rebellious crewe." The letter referred to is a curiosity, as it 
73 



THANKS OF THE HOUSE. 

shows the blasphemous freedom which Cromwell's parlia^ 
merit took with the holy name of God : — 

"Sir, 

I received a letter subscribed by yourself and the 1 
Governor of Conway, wherein you gave an account of the late successe 
wherewith God hath beene pleased to blesse the forces under both yo r 
commands and cortductes in yo r late expedition into Carnarvonshire,' 
against Sir John Owen and his rebellious crewe, w ch I have imparted to the 
house, and hath beene there read. Yo r good and faithfull service in that 
expedition is soe well represented, that I am cnmanded, as from the house' 
and in their name, to returne thanks for the same, w ch hereby I doe, and 
you are desired to do the like to those officers and souldiers under the charge 
and comand w ch God hath beene pleased to make instrumentall in the 
obteyning of such a seasonable mercy, and withal! to represent to the house 
what course (like to be effectual) may bee taken for remunerating ye officers 
and souldiers for their good service. This beeing all I have in comand af 
present, I shall only add that I am 

Yo T assured loveing freind, 
'* June the 13th, 1648." WM. LENTHALL, Speaker." 

Lenthall, the Speaker, was profuse, as we have shewn, 
in compliments, but still no substantial mark of favour upon 
General Mytton was bestowed. The Committee to whom 
the appointment of Governor of Shrewsbury Castle had been 
referred had long before found " reasons of weight to put 
another " in that office, after having held it in their own hands 
for some time. In 1647 the Governorship was filled by 
Humphrey Mackworth, Esq., of Betton, a Presbyterian, and 
Colonel in the army, who occupied the post till his death, in 
1654, and having been one of Cromwell's Privy Council, was 
buried in Henry VII.'s Chapel in Westminster Abbey, on the 
26th December, with great magnificence. He was succeeded 
in office at Shrewsbury by Thomas Hunt, Esq., representative 
of the town in Parliament, and a Colonel in the army. Mytton 
retired to London, from what immediate cause there is no 
record to show ; but some writers assert that he resigned 
his command. In 1651 we find that the Parliament again 
solicited Major- General Mytton's services, the following 
74 



DEATH OF GENERAL MYTTON. 

letter having been forwarded to him by the ' President 
Bradshawe. The kingdom was disturbed at this period by 
the Scottish Covenanters, under the nominal command of 
Charles II. :— 

"S r . 

The Scotts army being now entred into England, and 
bending their course towards those parts where wee know you have a good 
interest, wee conceive your presence there may bee of use for the service of 
the Commonwealth ; wee therefore desire you forthwith to repaire into the 
Countie of Salop, and there, with the rest of your fellow Commissioners, 
doe your best endeavour, and put out your interest there for the raiseing of 
what force of horse and foot you can, for the service of the Commonwealth 
in this present exigency of affaires. 

Signed in the name and by order of the Councell of 
State, appointed by authority of Parliament, 

"Whitehall, 14th August, 1651." JO: BRADSHAWE, Prsidt." 

"For Major General Thomas Mytton." 

Most probably by this time General Mytton had grown 
tired with the hard toils of intestine Warfare, and become 
disgusted with the faithlessness of the men whom he had so 
ardently and faithfully served; for we do not find that he 
complied with Bradshawe's letter, or took any further part in 
public affairs. He died in the metropolis in the year 1656, 
and his body was taken down to Shrewsbury, and interred in 
St. Chad's Church there. 

THE RESTORATION. 

It is unnecessary here to do more than merely advert to 
the unhappy close of Charles I.'s reign, the triumphs of 
Cromwell, and the bold and manly efforts made by Charles 
II. to obtain the Crown which had been so violently wrested 
from his father. Although Cromwell had made himself Lord 
Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland, yet he reposed 
not on a bed of roses. " Every party in the kingdom soon 
became disgusted with Cromwell's dominion. The royalists 
were indignant to see the ancient monarchy usurped by an 
upstart who had no hereditary claim upon their allegiance ; 
75 



THE RESTORATION. 

the republicans were mortified to see all their blood and 
efforts, which had been spent for the setting-up of the 
Commonwealth, lavished only for the support of a government 
which, in everything but the name, was a most despotic 
monarchy ; the Presbyterians were chagrined at the favour of 
their rivals, the Independents, and at a general toleration of 
every religious denomination (except the Church of England)." 
Conspiracies and plots were hatched in many parts of the land ; 
and the Protector was kept on the alert by daily intelligence 
that the exiled king would challenge the usurper, and claim 
the British throne as soon as a favourable opportunity presented 
itself for so bold an enterprise. Cromwell, however, after 
various struggles with the royalist forces, was summoned to 
" the house appointed for all men living." He was succeeded, 
for a brief period, by his son Richard, who speedily retired 
from public life. General Monk, who had been an intrepid 
commander both of the royalist and the parliamentary forces, 
and who possessed powerful influence in the country, on the 
death of the Protector Cromwell wisely threw the weight of 
that influence into the royalist scale, and adopted measures 
at once to bring back Charles II. from France to England. 
Upon that joyful event all ranks hastened to return to their 
allegiance, and on the 29th of May, 1660, Charles II. set his 
foot again upon British soil, and immediately assumed the 
functions of sovereignty. 

During the events to which we have been adverting the 
town of Oswestry suffered much privation and distress by the 
feuds and divisions into which all classes of men were thrown. 
A letter from Mr. John Griffith to Major-General Mytton, dated 
January 7th, 1650, shows that Oswestry was enduring much 
hardship. The letter, which is copied from the Halston MSS., 
is as follows : — 

" Honor' d Sir, 

I receaved a note from * * * » 
to write unto yo r honor concerning our sufferings, I presume yo r honor 
76 



SIR THOMAS MYDDLETON. 

knowes the maner of our sufferings, and how we may be releeved is better 
known to you then to us. The Baylifes and the rest of the sufferinge 
people of Oswestree depende much upon your assistance, and hope yo r honor 
will have a fitt opportunity to doe this poor towne good. * * * 

I shall make bould to put yo r honor in mind of your promise to draw a 
petition to the Parliament wth yo r owne handes, w ch we all hope you will 
doe before yo r returne, and then yo r honor shall further ingadge the whole 
towne ever to pray for yo r honor, and especially 

Yo r servant, 
"Osw., the 7th of January, 1650." JOHN GRIFFITH." 

" To the Honrable Major Generall Mytton, at London." 

There are no records extant showing precisely the position 
of civil and military affairs, as regards the town of Oswestry, 
in the struggles of Charles II. for the Crown. The parlia- 
mentary party held firm possession of all towns which they 
had taken, and against Charles they fought as fiercely as 
against his murdered father. Whatsoever the position of 
Oswestry was at the period to which we are referring, that of 
a valiant neighbour, Sir Thomas Myddleton, of Chirk Castle, 
was dangerous and deeply painful. In 1659, upon the 
royalists of Cheshire, headed by Sir George Booth, declaring 
in favour of Charles, the venerable old man, then eighty years 
of age, decided in favour of the ancient constitution, believing 
monarchy to be indispensable to the settlement of the nation, 
and proclaimed Charles II. at Wrexham. For this act he 
suffered severely, but was named afterwards as Commander- 
in-chief of the Counties of North Wales, and as Governor of 
Shrewsbury, although this latter nomination seems to have 
embarrassed Sir Edward Hyde, Chief Minister of Charles II., 
as likely to clash with the views of his friend Lord Newport, 
who had ever been a staunch friend to the royalist cause. 

The events of public interest that occurred in connection 

with the town subsequent to the Restoration were "few 

and far between." The most important act in Charles II.'s 

reign was his grant in 1673 of a Charter, which, looking at 

77 & 



CHARTER OF CHARLES II. 



the privileges it confers upon the town, is considered by some 
to be the Magna Charta of Oswestry. Its importance to the 
borough, as its provisions are still acted upon in the leading 
Law-Court of the town, justifies us in giving a correct 
abridgment of it : — 



€fy Carter 



was granted " to the ancient Borough and Corporation of Oswestry, alias 
Oswalds trey, in the County of Salop : That they be encorporated by the 
name of The Mayor, Aldermen, Common-council-men, and 
Burgesses of Oswestry ; and that they are empowered to purchase 
lands to them and their heirs for ever, and to give and bequeath or other- 
wise dispose of the same : That the said corporation may have one common 
seal for dispatching of all business concerning the said borough ; and to 
change and make new their same seal, as often as they shall think conve- 
nient: That there be Twelve Aldermen and Fifteen Common-council-men; 
whereof one of the said aldermen is to be Steward: and that whoever is 
chosen steward, must come in as an alderman. And that there shall be 
chosen a discreet person for Recorder, well learned in the law, who must be 
one of the Common-council-men : That the said borough may have one 
house of meeting, to be called the Guild-hall of the said town ; and that 
the mayor, aldermen, common-council-men, steward, and recorder may 
meet there, or in any other convenient place within the said borough, for 
making, establishing, &c. any laws, orders, &c. for the better government 
of the said corporation : and to declare in what manner the said mayor, &c. 
may manage themselves in the negociation of the said borough : and that 
the said mayor, aldermen, &c. or the greatest part of them, may imprison 
the bodies or impose fines or otherwise, upon all such as shall offend 
against the said laws, &c. and that the one moiety of the said fines to be 
levied for the use of the said mayor, aldermen, &c. ; and the other moiety 
to the use of the lord of the manor: provided, such laws, &c. be not 
repugnant to the laws of the land, or contrary thereto, or prejudicial to the 
lord of the manor: That Richard Pope, first mayor, continue in his 
mayoralty from the day of the date hereof, until the next Friday after 
the feast of St. Michael, the Archangel, 1674, and until another be 
sworn in his stead. Sir John Trevor, knt. ; Morgan Wynne, esquire ; 
Edward Owen, Richard Edwards, Richard Lloyd, the aforesaid Richard 
Pope, gentlemen; Gabriel Edwards, woollen- draper; Hugh Price, 
woollen-draper ; John Jones, mercer ; Richard Jones, John Blodwell, 
gentlemen ; and John Lloyd, mercer, to be the first aldermen ; and to 
continue in their office during life, unless for just cause any of them shall 
be removed by the mayor, aldermen, common-council-men, &c. or the 
78 



THE CHARTER. 

greatest part of them. — Richard Price, brewer; Richard Jones, mercer; 
John Glover, tanner; Richard Jones, glover ; Edwd. Evans, apothecary ; 
John Jones, glover; John Muckleston, shoemaker; Thomas Edwards, 
gentleman; Thomas Edwards, baker; Nathaniel Jones, brewer; Hugh 
Edwards, shoemaker; Timothy George, mercer; Thomas Vaughan, chan- 
dler ; William Price, butcher ; and Thomas Felton, brasier, to be the first 
common-council-men ; and to continue in office during life, unless removed 
as aforesaid. The mayor, &c. to meet on the next Friday after Michaelmas, 
yearly, and to choose at that time, out of the common-council-men, a new 
mayor; and to swear him in then, if present, or within twenty-one days 
next after such election, before the old mayor or (in his absence) before two 
or more of the aldermen of the said borough. If the mayor happen to die, 
or be removed out of his place for not well demeaning himself, or for any 
other just cause, before the expiration of the said year, that then and in 
such case, the aldermen, and common-council-men, &c. or the major part 
of them, shall elect and choose another mayor for the executing the said 
office of mayoralty during the remainder only of the said year. And upon 
the decease of any aldermen or common-council-men, to choose others to 
make up the number ; administering to them their oaths for the executing of 
their places : and that they shall be sworn in the presence of the mayor, or 
(in case of his absence) of the aldermen, common-council-men, or the major 
part of them. In case the mayor be sick or absent, that the mayor may 
constitute and appoint one of the aldermen to be his deputy ; and that being 
duly sworn, he may officiate the place of mayoralty during such sickness or 
absence, as fully and effectually in every respect as the said mayor might or 
could have done personally. When Morgan Wynne, the present Recorder, 
dies, or should happen to be dismissed, that the mayor, aldermen, &c, choose 
another, able and experienced in the law, within one month after such 
decease or dismission. The mayor, coroner, steward and recorder, during the 
time and term of holding their places, shall be Justices of the Peace, &c, and 
that each and every of them are Clerks of the Market, to settle weights and 
measures, and all other laws and ordinances incident thereto ; and to 
officiate the same as fully and effectually as any other of his Majesty's 
justices of the peace might or could do. Sir John Trevor, knight ; Robert 
Owen, and Edward Kinaston, esquires, or any of them, to swear the first 
mayor ; and that the mayor being sworn, he is to swear the coroner, steward, 
recorder, &c. That the mayor, steward, and recorder, or any two of them 
(whereof the mayor to be one) may keep a Quarter Sessions for all offences, 
as fully and effectually as the justices of the said county of Salop may do ; 
and that any one of them may commit to the common gaol of the said 
county any person accused of treason, murder, man-slaughter, or felony* 
whatsoever : and that the justices of the said county have no power to 
intermeddle with the said borough upon any cause whatsoever. That the 
79 



THE CHARTER. 

mayor (for the time being) shall choose any inhabitants of the borough, 
Constables ; and to swear them in accordingly. The mayor to choose two 
Sergeants, to attend upon him or his deputy, when required ; and to continue 
for one year (if they well demean themselves) : and that the said sergeant s 
shall carry two maces with his Majesty's and successors' arms, and the arms 
of the lord of the manor thereon, in their hands or upon their shoulders 
bare-headed, before the mayor, when required : and that the said sergeants 
shall be sworn by the mayor, for the due executing of all precepts, warrants, 
&c. The last mayor to be Coroner, who shall have as full power to officiate 
as any other coroner in any of his Majesty's counties hath, or may have; 
and not to execute his power before he be sworn before the mayor or his deputy: 
and upon the death of any coroner, the mayor, aldermen, &c, to choose 
another. A Court of Record to be kept every Friday, at the guild-hall, 
before the mayor or his deputy ; and to try all actions and causes whatso- 
ever, as fully as the bailiffs and burgesses formerly did, or as fully as any 
corporation in his Majesty's kingdom do, or did formerly : and that the 
mayor, &c. shall have to their use the one moiety of the issues, amerciaments, 
&c. ; and the other moiety thereof, to the use of the lord of the manor. John 
Morral to be Common Clerk of the Borough, and Clerk of the Court ; and 
may have a deputy, to be appointed by the steward : that the common 
clerk to be nominated by the lord of the manor, and to be sworn, as well as 
all other officers by the mayor: that if he shall not reside in the said 
borough, then he shall employ, in his absence, an honest and able 
attorney of the said court, to be approved of by the steward : and the said 
attorney shall officiate in the time of his absence. — Six Attornies to be of the 
court : whereof four to be chosen by the mayor, and two by the steward. 
One Marshal, or Crier to be chosen by the mayor. The mayor, aldermen, 
&c. to have within the borough a Gaol or Prison, for detaining of all 
prisoners, committed by the mayor, steward, or recorder, or any of them : 
and that the mayor, recorder, clerk of the market, common clerk, marshal, 
keepers of the prison, and sergeants (for the time being) shall receive such 
Fees, &c. as the bailiffs, &c. of Ludlow, and the said borough, have hitherto 
received. [Ludlow fees are half of the Common Pleas.] All burgesses and 
other inhabitants of the said borough to pay scot and lot, and to be assessed 
for the maintenance, good order, and further profit of the same ; and in 
default of payment, distresses to be laid upon their goods. — The mayor, &c. 
to have power to elect persons who have served seven years' apprenticeship, 
or that have been householders (paying scot and lot) seven years within the 
said borough, Burgesses : and with the approbation of the steward, to make 
any other person burgess of the said borough ; and so continue, unless for 
any just cause he be expelled by the mayor, &c. No Stranger or Foreigner 
shall exercise any Trade in the borough (except it be in time of fair) unless 
he be a burgess ; nor keep any shop, without special licence from the mayor, 
80 



THE CHARTER. 

aldermen, .&c. or the major part of them : the mayor, &c. to punish such 
foreigners and strangers by fines, and to distress upon their goods, in default 
of payment. The mayor and. corporation, and burgesses, Exempt from 
serving on Juries out of the borough, at assizes or quarter-sessions. The 
corporation to have return of writs ; and all which returns to be made by the 
mayor. No high-sheriff, or any of his officers, to enter the liberty, unless 
in defect of the mayor for the time being. The mayor or clerk to receive 
recognizances, according to form of Statute Merchant, or Acton Burnell; 
and to make execution, &c. as fully as any other town can do, by virtue of 
the said statute: and that there shall be a seal for the sealing of those 
recognizances. The mayor and corporation may purchase lands, &c. not 
exceeding ^50 a year, but such as are not held in capita or knight's service. 
The said borough is to enjoy two Markets weekly, for ever; that is, one 
on Wednesday and the other on Friday. To have a Fair on the 2nd, 3rd, 
and 4th days of March, yearly; and the fairs on the 1st and 2nd of May, 
the 4th and 5th of August, and the 29th and 30th of November, to be con- 
tinued as heretofore. And if any of the said fairs shall fall upon the 
Lord's-day, then the same to be kept on the Monday following. The 
mayor, &c. may hold a Court of Pie-poudre at the time of the fairs; and to 
take the usual tolls of markets and fairs — all rights, &c. of the lord of the 
manor excepted. 

The privileges secured to the inhabitants of the borough 
by this Charter must, at the time of its being granted, have 
been very valuable, and no doubt contributed greatly to the 
good government and prosperity of the town, during sub- 
sequent times. Some of such privileges have been super- 
seded by the provisions of the Municipal Corporation Act, 
5 & 6, William 4th, cap. 76, entituled " An Act to 
provide for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in 
England and Wales," and other modern enactments ; but 
others still remain, although the value and convenience 
of them appear in some degree to be overlooked. The 
Charter secures some peculiar privileges with respect to trade 
which may not probably harmonize with modern views and 
notions; but the privileges of trying at Quarter Sessions 
all offences, except felonies, committed within the borough, 
and of suing for debts, unlimited in amount, in the Court of 
Record, ought not to be regarded otherwise than as precious 
relics of byegone times. It is true, that the Court of Quarter 
81 ' G 



THE CHARTER. 

Sessions has been constantly and regularly held by the most 
able Recorder, J. R. Kenyon, Esq. ; but the Court of Record 
has of late years been so seldom resorted to, that on a late 
occasion, when a cause was tried before it, a local newspaper 
referred to it with special wonder, hinting its surprise that, 
in a place where the weapons of legal warfare were so easily 
obtained, the inhabitants should so long have ceased to use 
them, and to remain in peace amongst themselves, without 
any legal strife in a Court of Record. Although, however, 
debts without limit, as regards amount, may be sued for, 
the final process of the Court is confined to the borough, and 
cannot be put in force beyond its boundary ; and this circum- 
stance, connected also with the facilities for the recovery 
of debts afforded by the Small Debts Act, has rendered resort 
to the Court of Record less frequent than, under other cir- 
cumstances, it doubtless would have been; still, to have it is 
a privilege, as is also the exemption from serving on Juries at 
the Assizes, or County Quarter Sessions, secured by the 
Charter. 

The Restoration brought with it, of course, the ascen- 
dancy of loyal subjects and monarchical principles in all parts 
of the realm. Charles, however, did not make the wisest use 
of the power and influence he had newly acquired ; and the 
closing hours of his life proved that his religious principles, 
unfixed and vacillating, were ill adapted to the requirements 
of the age. Howsoever much other parts of the kingdom 
were disturbed during this reign, the town of Oswestry would 
seem to have resumed a tranquil position : the injury and 
damage sustained in it during the many years of disquietude 
and war were partially restored; the ancient Church was 
gradually repaired ; but the Castle, so dilapidated and broken 
down, was permitted to lie in ruins ; the crown made no 
effort to restore it ; and by degrees its shattered walls and 
fallen columns were carried away by nocturnal depredators, 
until at length the vestiges of the fortress consisted of little 
more than the mound still left in our sight. 
82 



BISHOP LLOYD. 

In 1681, only four years before Charles's death, a polemic 
scene was enacted in Oswestry, which, from the celebrity of 
the parties engaged in it, forms no uninteresting feature in the 
history of the town. Charles's reign was marked by odious 
political intolerance and injustice. He aimed at absolutism, 
and was as regardless of religious liberty as of religion itself. 
The controversy to which we have alluded occurred in the 
Guildhall of Oswestry, in September, 1681, and was con- 
ducted throughout in a spirit of candour and moderation not 
frequently to be witnessed in that turbulent period. The 
leading parties engaged were Dr. Lloyd, Bishop of St. Asaph 
(the prelate who preached the first sermon in the Chapel 
Royal to William III.), and the distinguished Philip Henry, 
of Broad Oak, Flintshire (father of the erudite and evangelical 
Matthew Henry, the Commentator on the Bible). Other 
nonconformist Ministers were present, and took part in the 
proceedings, especially Mr. James Owen, then of Oswestry — 
but afterwards of Shrewsbury Seminary for the education of 
Dissenting Ministers — a man of considerable acquirements 
and genuine piety. The Bishop, upon his elevation to the 
episcopal chair, was desirous of securing the conformity of 
those who dissented, and " that he might do it with the cords 
of a man, he resolved to reason the matter with them, and 
endeavour to eifect their conviction by discourse, in which he 
had a very great facility both by learning and temper." The 
account from which we derive these particulars goes on to 
state, that "one of the most eminent nonconformist ministers 
in his diocese was Mr. James Owen, of Oswestry. The 
Bishop had several interviews with Mr. Owen in private. At 
last he appointed a meeting to be held in the Town Hall, 
Oswestry, on Tuesday, the 27th of September, 1681, at which 
he requested Mr. Owen to give an account 'by what right he 
exercised the ministry, not having episcopal ordination.' He 
also directed him to procure any other ministers he could to 
assist him, for 'he would be glad to hear what any of them 
had to say for themselves.' Mr. Owen sought the co- 
83 



POLEMIC DISCUSSION. 

operation of Mr. Henry, which, after much hesitation, was 
granted; to whom also was joined Mr. Jonathan Roberts, ' a 
plain man of great integrity, and a very good scholar.' On 
the day appointed the Bishop made his appearance with the 
famous Henry Dodwell. In those days of intolerance, some 
parties had refrained from engaging in the controversy, ' lest 
it might be prejudicial to their liberty. The Bishop, however, 
was pleased to promise that no thing which should be said, by 
way of argument, should be any way turned to the prejudice 
of the disputants, nor advantage taken of it to give them 
trouble.' There was convened a large number of the gentry 
and clergy of the neighbourhood, the magistrates of the town, 
and a great concourse of people. The discussion lasted from 
two in the afternoon till between seven and eight at night. 
' Much was said, pro and con, touching the identity of bishops 
and presbyters/ the bishoping and unbishoping of Timothy 
and Titus, &c. It was managed with a great deal of liberty, 
and not under the strict laws of disputation.' 'The Bishop 
won golden opinions from all parties on account of the 
gravity, calmness, and evenness of spirit' with which he con- 
ducted his part; while he seems to have been so much 
gratified with the temper of his opponents, as to have formed 
from that time a most intimate friendship with Mr. Henry." 
The report does not inform us whether the Bishop was con- 
vinced by the arguments of the nonconformists. That Philip 
Henry retained his opinions is undeniable; for he never 
ceased advocating, with Christian zeal and moderation, the 
principles of nonconformity. It is gratifying, however, to 
read of so tolerant and well-conducted a disputation in so 
persecuting an age ; it speaks much in favor of the just and 
beneficent spirit of Bishop Lloyd. 

The reign of James II. offers no particular incident in 
relation to Oswestry. As a sovereign he was worthless and 
dangerous. His darling objects were, the establishment, 
throughout the land, of the Roman Catholic religion, and the 
restriction of popular freedom. During his brief occupation 



A MAYORS BLUNDER. 

of the throne lie paid a visit to Shrewsbury and Whitchurch ; 
and on his way from the metropolis sojourned at Ludlow for 
a night, and passed through the Strettons. The people of 
Shrewsbury had not been favoured with a royal visit for 
nearly half a century, and were now disposed to give the 
monarch a cordial reception. All the public functionaries 
were trained and disciplined as to duty, for an incident had 
occurred in the royal progress, so ludicrous in character, that 
the Shrewsbury corporation resolved it should not be re- 
enacted amid their loyal congratulations. The story to which 
we refer may be true or fabulous ; but it is too good not to be 
connected with a notice of James's reign: and, after all, the 
mayor of the town where the scene is laid, in adopting literally 
the promptings of the learned recorder, was not, to use a 
common phrase, "so great a fool as he seemed to be." If 
King James had received those promptings in a wise spirit — 
mirth-exciting as they must have been — he might have been 
a good sovereign, and had around him loyal and devoted 
subjects. 

The mayor whose absurdities we are about to describe is 
said to have been both illiterate and dull, incapable of reading 
or remembering an address. It was settled therefore, says 
the tale, that the recorder should stand behind him, to set him 
right if he happened to be out. When they (the corporation) 
were ushered into the royal presence, and the chief magistrate 
was about to commence his harangue, as he appeared some- 
what sheepish and embarassed, his friendly monitor whispered 
in his ear, " Hold up your head, sir, and bok like a man ! " 
Mistaking this for the beginning of his speech, he boldly 
stared the king in the face, and roared out, "Hold, up your 
head, sir, and look like a man!" Alarmed at the frightful 
blunder just made, the recorder whispered to the chief magis- 
trate (who at this moment must have resembled the celebrated 
Mayor of Garrat, with two nosegays in his coat), "What the 
d—l do you mean, sir?" The mayor, as stolid as ever, and 
85 



THE REVOLUTION. 

nothing abashed, thundered out the recorder's exclamation as 
boldly as before. The recorder, indignant and irritated, 
muttered, " By heavens, sir, you'll ruin us all ! " His worship, 
taking this to be a continuance of the speech, and still 
staring his majesty full in the face, with a yet louder voice 
repeated, " By heavens, sir, you'll ruin us all!" Even 
kingly patience could bear this no longer, and rising, his 
majesty in an angry tone demanded what was the meaning of 
this jargon? when the recorder laid before him "the facts of 
the case," and the king passed the affair by with a gracious 
smile. 

THE REVOLUTION. 
The Revolution of 1688 brought over to England William 
III.; and his reign was followed by that of "good Queen 
Anne." Her reign has been termed the Augustan era of 
English literature, as it was graced with the polished writings 
of Sir Isaac Newton, Addison, Steele, Farquar (who laid the 
scene of his comedy, "The Recruiting Officer" in Shrewsbury, 
and who, in his epistle dedicatory, first used the lively senti- 
ment, "To all friends round the Wrekin," now one of the 
social laws of Salop), of Vanbrugh, Prior, Pope, Parnell, 
Garth, Gay, cum multis aliis. Instructed as the nation was 
by these and other eminent men, still bigotry and enthusiasm 
were evidenced by many in matters of religion and politics. 
In the year 1709 the nation was thrown into a gentle ferment 
by the indiscreet conduct of the government towards an 
obscure clergyman named Sacheverell (who had long been 
starving on a poor curacy in London), in consequence of his 
having preached and published two scurrilous and intemperate 
sermons, of which red-hot politics were the staple. He was 
summoned to the bar of the House of Lords, and impeached. 
The Whig ministry viewed his attacks with alarm, and he was 
sentenced no.t to preach lor three years. This persecution, as 
the proceedings of tljie government were ( called^ at ^once mar- 
tyrised Sacheverell, who suaTdenly found .himself famous. A 
entleman residing in the neighbourhood of Oswestry,. Robert 
86 



DR. SACHEVERELL. 

Lloyd, Esq., of Aston, sympathized with the suffering Sache- 
verell, and .became his friend. Mr. Lloyd had been the 
doctor's pupil at Magdalen College, Oxford; and as the 
rectory of Sylattyn, in his gift, became vacant at this juncture, 
he presented it to the high-church meteor. This was doubt- 
less a god-send to the doctor, who set off from London, to 
take possession of his new living, with all the state which a 
corrupt popularity could give to him. A Tory writer of Queen 
Anne's reign tells us that "he entered upon his triumphant 
progress to Shropshire. He was magnificently entertained at 
Oxford by the University, and received in the other great 
towns he passed through (Shrewsbury and Oswestry included) 
with the loud acclamations and joyful congratulations of the 
people, upon his deliverance from whig persecution." In 
Shrewsbury the crier was sent about to proclaim his arrival, 
and the bells were rung in honour of the event. As he 
passed through Oswestry, it is related, the crowd assembled 
to witness his arrival was so great, that an enthusiastic old 
woman, a great dabbler in politics and religion, no doubt, 
was so excited in her endeavours to obtain a sight of the 
distinguished bigot, that she succeeded only in catching a 
passing glance at his figure and periwig. " I could see only part 
of the holy man," she exclaimed, "but I console myself with 
having had a sight of his ever-blessed wig as he rode along." 
This sort of mummery was not confined to Oswestry. In 
many towns people were desirous to have their new-born 
infants christened with a name so revered; which, having 
been transmitted through succeeding generations, is not yet 
extinct in this county. On his return to London he met with 
nothing but laudations, except at Worcester, where, by the 
direction of Bishop Lloyd, a suitable rebuff was administered 
to him. Of Dr. Sacheverell nothing more was heard 
worthy of transcription. Like most other men whose 
popularity is created by intolerant doctrines in religion or 
politics, he speedily found that his sudden greatness was as 
mutable as it was undeserved. 
87 



THE BRUNSWICK DYNASTY. 

The death of Queen Anne, in 1714, secured to the kingdom 
the Brunswick Dynasty. The Act of Settlement, passed in 
the reign of William III., provided that the crown of Great 
Britain should henceforth be held only by Protestant Princes. 
James Stuart, Queen Anne's brother, known more popularly 
as the Pretender, could not reign in England because he was 
a Roman Catholic, and George, Duke of Brunswick, and 
Elector of Hanover, a Protestant Prince, whose mother was 
grand- daughter of James I., became King of Great Britain. 
The Brunswick succession has continued till the present time, 
the united kingdom deriving especial benefits from the reigns 
of the three Georges, of William IV., and of Queen Victoria. 
Under the sway of George III. enlarged freedom, civil and 
religious, was extended to his subjects ; arts, science, and 
commerce flourished, and the people made rapid advancement 
in religious and moral improvement. The memorable wish of 
the venerable monarch George III., " That every one of his 
subjects should read and possess the Bible" — a far more 
generous sentiment than that of the French King who desired 
to see the day when every one of his subjects should be able 
to put a fowl into the pot once a week — was largely realized 
through the instrumentality of Robert Raikes, Dr. Bell, and 
Joseph Lancaster, the great promoters of education in the 
land, and by, also, the foundation of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society, whose distribution of the Scriptures gave an 
impulse to religious and benevolent efforts which have been 
increasing in usefulness and efficiency to the present day. 
Under the auspices of George IV. the nation derived numerous 
blessings, deficient as he was of many of the bright qualities 
that ought to shine in the moral diadem of a British King. 
The reign of William IV. — the Sailor King, as he has been 
familiarly but appropriately called — was rendered illustrious 
by his intense regard for the interests of the people, and his 
sanction to the Second Great Charter of British rights. 
Under the mild and gracious rule of our beloved Sovereign 
Queen Victoria, the rights and privileges of Britons are 
held sacred ; literature, arts, and science have acquired " a 
S8 



A GLORIOUS AGE. 

more than double sway ; " commerce and manufactures, in a 
multiplicity of forms, for the comfort and luxury of mankind 5 
have careered onwards with giant steps, that have astonished 
and delighted the wisest and the best ; the social comforts of 
all classes of the British community are rendered almost 
boundless by the progress of invention, the ingenuity of 
mechanical skill, and the unceasing activity of all industrial 
pursuits ; the unrighteous laws that prohibited the importation 
of corn have been abolished ; free trade in bread has been 
established with all the nations of the earth ; ancient grinding 
monopolies have been destroyed ; national imposts reduced ; 
the just demands of the people speedily granted ; harsh feudal 
laws, carrying with them inhuman punishments, have been 
blotted out of the Statute-book ; "man's inhumanity to man," 
under the sanction of Acts of Parliament, has been softened 
if not wholly subdued ; the just principle of national brother- 
hood, inculcated by divine precept, has gained vital force ; 
religion has become less sectarian, and more thoroughly 
Christian in profession and practice ; the helping hand of man 
to his brother man, in the hour of necessity, is seen now more 
actively at work than ever ; the people at large are united as 
one man, in all great designs of philanthropy and benevolence, 
and in all puissant combinations against injustice and 
oppression : our Queen and her enlightened and virtuous 
Consort are ever watchful for the country's weal. The reign 
of Victoria is thus far the brightest page of regal history, 
because it has been pre-eminently the best. We may sum 
up in the eloquent language of Dr. Southwood Smith :— 
"We live in a glorious age. The rapidity of the progress of 
liberal opinion, and I will add, of liberal feeling, within these 
few years has been unexampled in the history of our race. 
Sometimes indeed the tide of improvement like the tide of the 
ocean may appear to have receded ; but soon, as if deriving 
strength from its momentary retreat, slow, majestic, irresistible, 
it has rolled beyond its former limit ; but, unlike its type, it 
has not returned, a* I it will not return, to the boundary it 
has passed." 
89 




CnpflgrapljirEl IKatarif. 



imswestry is one of the most interesting of the English 
J$/§] Border towns, as we have already endeavoured to 
show; its early history, in various conflicting ages, being 
crowded with incidents to give to it a lasting renown. In 
its present state it offers numerous claims to public attention ; 
and the time does not seem far distant when it will take its 
rank among the more flourishing towns of the empire. Having 
railway communication direct with the metropolis, the great 
seats of manufacturing industry in the northern counties, and 
by a new line of conveyance, both of passengers and goods, 
via the rapidly-rising town and port of Birkenhead, with the 
sister kingdom, its importance and improvement will quickly 
increase. Nor is the contemplated railway extension from 
Oswestry to Welshpool and Newtown to be overlooked, as that 
may soon lead to the still further construction of a railway 
forming a junction with the projected line from the latter place 
to the busy town of Llanidloes, and stretching onward till it 
reaches the great harbour in course of formation at Milford 
Haven. With such "means and appliances" the trade and 
commerce of Oswestry are not likely to retrograde ; and 
although we possess not the poetical and sanguine tem- 
perament of Griffith of Glyn Ceiriog, who, some centuries ago 
fancied that "in merchandise it resembled Cheapside," in 
London, yet we have no doubt that Oswestry, which is now 
prospering commercially, and diffusing much good, both 
morally and religiously, will advance steadily forward in the 
90 



SITE OF THE TOWN. 

march of general and social improvement. We are too 
gallant not heartily to concur on another point with the 
Welsh poet just quoted. In his days, he says, " The hand- 
somest women, and the most becomingly drest, are those of 
Oswestry." If we did not unhesitatingly applaud this 
opinion of a Welshman, we should consider ourselves unworthy 
the name of Englishmen ! 

The site of Oswestry is remarkable. It stands upon more 
elevated ground than any other town in Shropshire, being 
450 feet above the level of the sea. Its commanding position 
freely exposes to the gaze of the delighted spectator a range 
of landscape scenery which, for variety, beauty, and grandeur, 
cannot be excelled in any part of the kingdom. On the 
heights above the town the prospect expands. To the south- 
east the fertile vale of Salop displays its diversified charms, 
the Nesscliff Rock, Hawkstone (Lord Hill's beautiful ances- 
tral residence), and the -huge and venerable Wrekin peering 
forth in the distance ; whilst the high ridges of the Longmynd 
and Stiperstones form an uninterrupted chain along the Welsh 
border, with the bold and abrupt acclivities of Cefn-y-Castell 
andMoel-y-Golfa; and the Breidden, crowned with Rodney's 
Pillar, completes the great natural panorama. Towards the 
east the Macclesfield hills, dividing Cheshire from Derbyshire, 
appear. The view on the Welsh side is equally impressive, 
and may well be called "the paradise of Cambria." 

The fullest topographical description of ancient Oswestry 
that we have discovered is that of Harrison, who wrote in 
1564. He says, "Oswester is eighteen miles from Shrews- 
burie, and containeth a mile within the walls. It hath in like 
sort foure suburbs or great streets, of which one is called 
Stratlan, another Wuliho, the third Beterich, wherein are one 
hundred and forty barns, standing in a row, belonging to the 
citizens or burgesses, and the fourth named the Black Gate- 
street, in which are thirtie barns maintained for come and 
haie. There is also a brooke running thorough the town by 
91 



OSWESTRY AS IT WAS. 

the crosse, coming from Simon's well, a bowshot without the 
wall, and going under the same, between Thorow-gate and 
New-gate, running under the Black-gate. There is another, 
over whose course the Baderikes or Baderich-gate standeth, 
and therefore called Baderich brooke ; the third passeth by 
Willi-gate or New- gate, and these all fall, together with the 
Crosse brooke, a mile lower by south, into the Mordaunt." 
Leland, the historian, who briefly sojourned in the town in 
the reign of Henry VIII., informs us that the northern part, 
or Beatrice-street, at that period contained "many barns for 
corn and hay, to the number of vii score several barns;" the 
eastern, or Black -gate, " xxx barns for corn, with other houses 
'longing to the townesmen." The same writer adds, "There 
be within the town iii most notable streates, the Cross-streate, 
the Bayly-streate, and New-gate-streate. The houses withyn 
the town be of timbre, and slated. There is a castell, sette 
on a mont be likelihood made by hand; and ditched by 
south-west, betwixt Beatrise-gate and Willow-gate, to the 
which the wall comith. There be no towers in the waulles 
besides the gates. The town is dicked about, and brokettes 
renynto it." Camden describes Oswestry in his day as "a 
place of good traffic, inclosed with a wall and ditch, and 
fortified with a castle." Pennant's brief description brings 
us nearer to the present time. " Oswestry," he says, " stands 
just in Shropshire, on the very border of the British frontier. 
It is 17 J miles from Shrewsbury, 11 from Llangollen, and 
179| from London. The country for several miles round is 
delightfully varied with hills, vales, wood, and water, and 
abounds in rich scenery. The prospect on the Montgomery 
side is terminated abruptly by the august ridge of the promi- 
nent mountains of Breiddyn. It is upon higher ground than 
any other town in Shropshire." 

The Walls referred to by these writers were erected, as we 
have already stated, by Edward I. (probably under the super- 
intend ance of his celebrated architect Eire ton, who built both 
92 



THE GATES. 

Conway and Caernarvon castles), that lie might secure 
Oswestry as a key to his intended conquest of Wales, and 
render it less liable to the plundering incursions of the Welsh. 
These walls were about a mile in circumference, with a 
skilfully-made intrenchment on the outside, which could be 
filled with water from the springs in the vicinity. Some 
remains of this ancient fortification may still be traced, and 
part of its boundary-line is designated, up to the present 
time, as "the Walls." 

There were four Gates, the only inlets into the town, and 
they stood as strong fortresses in times of disquietude and 
danger. As the town advanced in trade and commerce the 
Gates became exceedingly inconvenient for the passage of 
carriages and merchandize, and in 1766, the Black-Gate was 
taken down by consent of Earl Powis, the lord of the manor. 
Rylance assures us that "Black-Gate was demolished in 
consequence of its having become so low in the arch, that 
loads could scarce go under, having been rendered so by 
several pavements being put one over the other to repair the 
street, and make a vent for the water, which made the passage 
through it bad." 

The convenience rendered to the town by the removal of 
the Black-Gate induced 
the Corporation to obtain 
the consent of the lord of 
the manor to the removal 
of the three other Gates. 
In 1782 an arrangement 
was accordingly made for 
their demolition, and the 
materials were used in the 
erection of the borough 
prison. The New-Gate 
was erected in the reign THE NEW GATE - 

of Edward II., and was used as a prison and guard-room 
93 




THE STREETS. 



for the soldiers. Over the New-Gate (as is seen in our 
engraving) was the figure of a horse in full speed, with an 
oaken bough in his mouth. Pennant remarks, " There is a 
conjecture, but I will not pretend to say how well warranted, 
that it alluded to the generous breed of horses which Powys- 
land (of which this was part) was famous for, derived from 
some fine Spanish stallions introduced by Robert de Belesme, 
Earl of Shrewsbury." 

Beatrice Gate is said to have been named in compliment to 
Beatrice, the Queen of Henry IV., and in all probability was 
built in that king's reign, as his sojourn in this district, during 

his long onslaughts 
upon the Welsh, con- 
nected him much with 
the neighbourhood. 
The gate was a hand- 
some building, with a 
guard-house on each 
side, and over it the 
arms of the Fitz-Alans 
(a lion rampant). It 
is said to have been built by Thomas, Earl of Arundel. 

Willow-Gate, or Wallia-Gate, derived its name from the 
road, in which the gate was situate, leading directly into 
Wales. 

The borough has now assumed, from a number of improve- 
ments made in it, a highly- respectable appearance. Church- 
Street may vie, in neatness and public accommodation, with 
the leading thoroughfare of any similarly-sized town in the 
kingdom. Willow-Street is an active business thoroughfare, 
the two Banks and the Post-Office being situated there; 
Beatrice Street is the only thoroughfare to the Railway Station, 
and is therefore, with Leg-Street, the chief street of traffic. 
Bailey- Street, principally confined to shops, is a leading 
94 




BEATRICE GATE. 



THE STREETS. 

approach to the Powys Market, Guildhall, and public offices ; 
whilst Upper Brook-Street is a pleasant location, and will 
doubtless soon become a favourite site for villa residences ; 
at least, its beautiful situation, and the fine healthy country 
to which it is proximate, entitle it to such a distinction, 
Salop Road is on the march of improvement, and some good 
modern houses are erected in it; but yet its dwellings are 
irregular in size and appearance, and some time may elapse 
before it exhibits much of harmony or attraction, as a leading 
thoroughfare, unless the projected railway extension through 
the town gives, as may reasonably be expected, a stimulus to 
house-building in this district. The innovating hand of modern 
improvement has not hitherto effected much change in the 
central and more dense portions of the town. Let us ' ' wait 
a little longer," and the unsightly dwellings deemed palaces 
by our forefathers, but which, compared with modern domestic 
houses, are little better than huts or hovels, will give place 
to habitations worthy of this age, so properly distinguished 
for its sanatory regulations and general progress. Such 
ancient and dilapidated buildings are mere figments of days 
gone past, and atone not, by their pictorial beauty, for their 
ruined and desolate condition. The nagging of the leading 
public streets, recently determined upon, and which has been 
partly carried into effect, will be one of the greatest improve- 
ments already adopted in the borough The principal thorough- 
fares in the entire town will speedily be flagged in the same 
style, so that in a short time the inhabitants, ladies especially, 
will be able to perambulate the streets, and amuse themselves 
" a-shopping," without paying for it the hard penalty of 
walking in their fashionable boots or slippers over a flinty 
pavement. This improvement is being effected from the funds 
of a voluntary subscription, to which a large number of the 
professional gentry and trading classes have liberally sub- 
scribed. The various roads leading from the town are wide 
and well-constructed, and are generally kept in a good 
travelling condition. 
95 



LIGHTING THE TOWN. 

The town is lighted with gas, and has been so for many- 
years past. The honour of introducing gas-light into Oswestry 
is due to Mr. Robert Roberts, civil engineer, a man of much 
talent in his profession, and of singular perseverance and 
industry. The origin of lighting the town with gas may be 
told in a few words. In the year 1819 Mr. Charles Stanton, at 
that time Manager of the Oswestry Theatre, which had been 
recently built, entered into an arrangement with Mr. Roberts 
to light the Theatre during the season. Mr. Roberts had 
been hitherto experimenting on a small scale, and was not 
fully prepared to enter upon so important a piece of work as 
illuminating the Theatre. His persevering habits prevailed, 
and he agreed with Mr. Stanton that the Theatre should be 
lighted on a certain evening. To introduce gas into a large 
public building was deemed an event of no common magnitude 
in those days. The appointed evening, in September 1819, 
at length arrived, and Mr. Roberts succeeded in lighting the 
Theatre with a brilliant gas, which astonished all beholders. 
The performances on that evening were for the benefit of 
Miss Stanton, the Manager's daughter. Some tradesmen in 
the town quickly availed themselves of this new light ; others 
followed in the wake ; and in the winter season of 1821, the 
leading streets of the town were for the first time illuminated 
with gas. Places of religious worship soon afterwards 
adopted gas. The Welsh Methodist Chapel, in Willow- 
Street, first used it; the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, 
Salop-Road, followed; and the Old Parish Church, then and 
still under the vicarage of the Rev. Thomas Salwey, was 
afterwards lighted, forty burners being introduced, including 
lights at the entrance doors. The other places of religious 
worship quickly followed the example ; and in a very few 
years gas became the universal light in all public places, 
private houses, and commercial and trading establishments. 
In 1821 the public, or street-lamps, were only 10 in number; 
there were 123 private lights ; and one chapel lighted with 
five lights. In 1854 there were — private lights, 925 ; public 
96 



MARKETS AND FAIRS. 

lamps, 66; Church and Chapel lights, 112. The lighting 
of the borough has been much improved since gas was first 
introduced here. It is still under the superintendence of 
Mr. Roberts, who, now an octogenarian, is of hale health, 
and of as active and bustling habits as he was in the days 
of his youth. 

Oswestry is a market-town, and the chief market is 
held every Wednesday. It is abundantly supplied from 
the surrounding highly-cultivated agricultural country, and 
the articles brought for sale are generally of the very best 
quality. "Welsh mutton, poultry, and fruits of rare delicacy 
are among the choice morsels which the exquisite gourmand 
may ever find, in their due season, in the Oswestry market. 
Apples and pears, produced in the vicinity, and offered for 
sale here, might successfully vie with the best of those fruits 
grown in Guernsey, Jersey, or the sunny orchards of Kent. 
There is a small market held on the Saturday, principally for 
the accommodation of the numerous labouring classes em- 
ployed in the neighbourhood. 

Twelve Fairs are also held in the town, all of which are 
conducted with great spirit, and attended by a large class of' 
buyers and sellers. A Fair is held on the first Wednesday 
in every month. 



$ttWtc (JFgtaWtsfjmetttei antr Institutions 

Imagine a party of strangers visiting Oswestry, having heard 
much spoken in favour of its neatness and beauty, and the 
picturesque scenery by which it is surrounded ; and stretch 
forth your imagination, gentle reader, by supposing that this 
party have been comfortably supplied with viands, and 
perchance "the cup which cheers, but not inebriates," by mine 
host of the Cross Keys or the Wynnstay Arms. Having 
discussed these good things, they may perhaps hasten out in 
quest of "the lions" of the place. "Let us away to the 
97 H 



PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENTS AND INSTITUTIONS. 

Museum! " probably exclaims one of the ladies of the party 
who is ever in search of the utile as well as the dulce. " This 
is a charming spot," she perhaps adds, " for mineralogical 
and geological curiosities. The country, we are told, abounds 
in productive lead, copper, and coal mines. We shall surely 
collect much useful information in this practical and explo- 
ratory district, and return home wiser than when we came." 
" Bravissimo ! " may be the cry and echo of most of the party, 
" Miss Aimwell is ever zealous in good works, and to-day 
she is bent upon providing for us no common store of rational 
pleasure and information. Let us hasten to the Museum, 
therefore, at once." The party, we suppose — for it is merely 
a fancy sketch — hie away towards the imaginary Museum, 
full of glee, anticipating the pleasure of exchanging compli- 
ments with the Curator, and one Director at least, and of 
inspecting a carefully- selected collection of natural curiosities, 
comprising, of course, attractive productions in the mineral 
world ; specimens in ornithology ; some of the many wonders 
and "gems of purest ray serene," snatched from the deep 
caverns of the ocean ; rare marbles and pebbles chiselled out 
of rocks and caves, mountains and dells ; botanical rarities, 
and floral, horticultural, native and exotic products; with 
gatherings from the realms of art, science, fancy, and literature. 
Do the imaginary party discover the Museum, or a Public 
Library, or any Institution whatever, in which Lord Bacon's 
axiom is illustrated, that "knowledge is power?" No such 
thing is in existence. The fancied party — or fanciful party, 
as some people would denominate them — have been in search 
of " the baseless fabric of a vision." Like Puff, in Sheridan's 
" Critic" they might say, with a slight interpolation, 

"The Museum we cannot see, 
Because it's not in sight! " 

Turning from the gay to the grave, we reiterate, there is no 

Museum in the town ; nor even a Public Library, on a scale 

worthy of so respectable a community. We wish it were 
98 



THE POST OFFICE. 

otherwise ; and the day is not far off, we trust, when the 
reproach will be wiped away, and Oswestry shall shew an 
example in this respect deserving of all praise. 

THE POST OFFICE 

Is situated in Willow-Street. Post-Mistress, Miss Sarah 
Babington, who has held her appointment since May, 1831. 
The Post Office was removed from Church-Street to Willow- 
Street, in October, 1839. 

DESPATCH OF LETTERS, &c. 





Letters can be Posted 


Letters &c. 

can be 

registered 

until 


Lines of Road, and chief Places 
of Destination. 


Without 
extra 

charge, 
until 


"With one 

additional 

Id. stamp, 

until 


Shrewsbury, Birmingham, and London, ^ 
taking Letters for all parts of England, \ 
North and South Wales, Ireland, Scot- f 
land, and Foreign parts J 

Llanymynech, Llanfyllin, Hanrhaiadr, & \ 
Rural Post j 


P. M. 

6 15 

A. M. 

5 45 


P. M. 

6 55 

A. M. 

7 


P. M. 

5 45 

P. M. 

10 



DELIVERY. 



Lines of Road, and chief Places from 
which Mails are received. 



Delivery 
by Letter 
Carriers 
begins at 



Delivery to 

callers 
begins at 



London, Birmingham, and Shrewsbury,^ 
bringing Letters from all parts of Eng- I 
land. North and South Wales, Ireland, f 
Scotland, and Foreign parts J 

London, Crewe, Liverpool, Chester, Wrex-\ 
ham, &c j 

Llanfyllin and Rural Post 



7 15 



On Sundays there is only one Delivery by Letter Carriers (commencing 
at 8 a. m.), and Letters are delivered at the Window, from 8 until 10 
a. m. only. 



REGULATIONS. 

Ordinary Business: — From the beginning of March to the end of 
October, this Office is, on Week-days, opened to the Public, for ordinary 
Business, at 7 a. m., and during the remaining months at half-past 7. It 
is always closed at 10 p. m. On Sunday the Office is open only from 8 till 
10 a. m. ; but the Letter Box remains open as on other days. 
99 

LofC. 



THE BANKS. 

The inhabitants of Oswestry have now the privilege of 
receiving letters from London, both by the evening and 
morning mails. The new postal regulation, by which letters 
may be posted in London in the evening, after seven o'clock, 
and up to eight in the morning, is of great importance to 
tradesmen and others in Oswestry, as it enables them to reply 
to such letters on the evening on which they are delivered. 

THE BANKS. 

There are two Banks in the town. The Old Bank, under 
the firm of " Croxon, Jones, Longueville, and Co.," is situated 
in Willow-Street, and has been established for upwards of 
seventy years. The original co-partners were Messrs. 
Gibbons, Croxon, and Sheppard. The present co-partners 
are Thomas Longueville Longueville, Esq., John Croxon, 
Esq., Richard Jones Croxon, Esq., and James Thomas 
Jones, Esq., who is also Acting Manager. Mr. Jones's 
father (Mr. Charles Thomas Jones) likewise discharged the 
duties of Manager of this Bank for the long period of 
thirty-five years. In such capacity, also in that of Chief 
Magistrate, and as a warm friend to every useful institution 
in the borough, he earned the grateful esteem of his fellow- 
townsmen. This Bank issues £5 notes, payable here or in 
London : issue limited by law to £18,470. Circulation, on an 
average of the last five years, £10,180. — Draw on Masterman 
and Co., Nicholas Lane, London. 

The North and South Wales Bank, also situated in 
Willow-Street, is a Branch to the Bank bearing that title, 
established April, 1836, in Liverpool. The Oswestry Branch 
was opened June, 1836. There are fifteen Branches of the 
North and South Wales Bank established in the Principality 
and the Borders. Manager : — Mr. F. Roberts, appointed Sep- 
tember, 1845. — Draw on the London and Westminster Bank. 

THE SAVINGS' BANK, 

On the Bailey Head, was established in 1818; and at the 
present time it is in a state of great prosperity, showing the 
100 



THE SAVINGS BANK. 

careful and economic habits of a large portion of the labouring 
classes in this thriving district. From the annual account of 
the Trustees of the Bank, ending 20th November, 1854, it 
appears, that the balance in favour of the Depositors amounted 
to £69,975 18s. lid. The number of Depositors whose 
respective balances, including interest, did not exceed £1 each, 
was 77; of those £1, and not exceeding £5, 303; ditto 
above £5, and not exceeding £10, 270; ditto above £10, 
and not exceeding £15, 217; ditto above £15, and not 
exceeding £20, 146; ditto above £20, and not exceeding 
£30, 253; ditto above £30, and not exceeding £40, 194; 
ditto above £40, and not exceeding £50, 113; ditto above 
£50, and not exceeding £75, 188 ; ditto above £75, and not 
exceeding £100, 89; ditto above £100, and not exceeding 
£125, 49; ditto above £125, and not exceeding £150, 23 ; 
ditto above £150, and not exceeding £200, 41 ; ditto 
exceeding £200, 2. The total number of Depositors was 
1965 ; Charitable Societies, 30; and Friendly Societies, 31. 
The total number of accounts was 2026. The affairs of the 
Bank are conducted by ten Trustees and fourteen Managers. 

Treasurer : — Thomas Longueville Longueville, Esq. 
Secretary : — Mr, John Hughes. 

The Bank is open for business every Wednesday, from 
twelve till two o'clock. 

THE STAMP OFFICE 
Is situated in Leg-Street. Sub-Distributor, Mr. George Lewis. 

THE MARKETS. 

Until very recently the town of Oswestry had not provided 
any market-sites worthy of the name. As the town, however, 
advanced in population and trading pursuits, and agriculture 
and farming in general progressed in the neighbourhood, 
the want of new and convenient public markets began to 

101 



THE MARKETS. 

be seriously felt, and most of the inhabitants, and gentlemen 
connected with the neighbourhood, were disposed to con- 
tribute towards the completion of such desirable improvements. 
A very liberal spirit was manifested in favour of so excellent 
a design ; a public subscription was set on foot ; and at length 
the sum of £3202 was raised, which was laid out towards 
erecting the Cross Market, as that was considered to be the 
most desirable to commence upon. But this sum being found 
insufficient to cover the cost even of this Market, it was agreed 
by the Town Council to apply to Parliament for an Act, 
empowering them to effect further Market Improvements in the 
borough, and to raise £5000 for that purpose. Accordingly a 
Bill was presented to Parliament, in 1848, entitled "The 
Oswestry Markets and Fairs Bill," and in February of that 
year Mr. Fowler, Surveying Officer of the Commissioners of 
Woods and Forests, attended at Oswestry, to hear evidence 
upon the proposed markets. R. J. Croxon, Esq., Town- 
Clerk, appeared for the promoters, and having pointed out, in 
a long address, the evils arising from holding the Fairs and 
Markets in the public streets, called several witnesses in sup- 
port of his statement. Mr. Fowler reported favourably of the 
objects of the promoters; and in the same Session of Parlia- 
ment the Act received the royal assent. The measure being 
so far successful, no time was lost in carrying out this credit- 
able project; and on June 6th, 1849, the Cross Market, 
for the sale of butter, eggs, poultry, fruit and vegetables, was 
opened. Part of the market is also used for the sale of 
butchers' meat. The Powis Market-Hall, forming one 
side of the Bailey Square, was opened on the same day. 
The chief part of the buildings of which the Powis Market is 
composed, as well as the site on which the new portion of the 
Market stands, was presented to the town by the late Earl of 
Powis, Lord of the Manor and Lordship of Oswestry, his 
Lordship merely stipulating that he and his successors should 
have the use of the new Guildhall when the same was 
wanted for holding the Manor Courts. The site on which 
102 



Q- 




O- 



THE MARKETS. 

the Cross Market was "built, being in the centre of the 
town, had been covered with shops and dwellings, all of which 
were purchased at a cost of upwards of £2,700. Mr. Thomas 
Penson was the architect employed on this Market, and 
Messrs. Griffith and William Morris contracted for its erection. 
The market is spacious and convenient, is covered in, and 
has three entrances, the main one being from the Cross. 
The Powis Market-Hall, in which accommodation is given to 
farmers and general dealers in cheese, butter, and grain, is a 
plain stone-fronted edifice, with a high clock turret. The 
front part of the building was formerly used as the Guild- 
Hall, at the back of which new buildings have been erected, 
in brick, and partly covered with glass. This market has 
been found to be exceedingly convenient, especially in the 
winter season ; and the accommodation thus rendered to buyers 
and sellers has contributed so much to increase their number, 
that a considerable extension to the market is contem- 
plated. The Cattle Market comprises an extensive piece 
of ground, situated between Church-Street and Croxon's 
Square, which was purchased from Mr. George Withers 
Edwards, at a cost of £1050. It is exceedingly well 
attended, and fully justifies the expectations of all parties 
engaged in its formation. The Horse Market is situated 
at the back of the Powis Market. The site on which it is 
held, comprising 4256 square yards, was purchased for £279. 
Both of these markets were opened on Wednesday, 4th July, 
1849. — Mr. George Cooper is Treasurer of the Markets; and 
Mr. John Donald Superintendent. 

Most of the leading gentlemen of the town had taken an 
active interest in the formation of the. new markets, and no one 
was more zealously engaged in promoting them than Peploe 
Cartwright, Esq., to whom, after the completion of these 
public improvements, a service of plate, consisting of a silver 
salver, tureen, and four corner dishes, was presented on behalf 
of the Corporation and a numerous body of the inhabitants of 
103 



THE GAS-WORKS. 

the town and neighbourhood, as a testimony of their sense of 
his many "public services in forwarding the improvements of 
the town, and in particular for his able, zealous, and untiring 
exertions in promoting the establishment of the fairs and 
market accommodations," The presentation of the plate 
took place December 26th, 1850, in the Powis Market-Hall, 
in the presence of a numerous assembly. The Recorder of 
the borough, John Robert Kenyon, Esq., presented the plate, 
in an appropriate and eloquent speech ; and Mr. Cartwright 
responded with ability and feeling. On the same day, as a 
further testimonial to Mr. Cartwright, a public dinner was 
given to him, at the Wynnstay Arms Hotel, on which occasion 
the festive enthusiasm which distinguishes the Salopian 
gentry was more than ordinarily displayed. The entire pro- 
ceedings of the day passed off with the utmost satisfaction. 

THE GAS. WORKS 

Were erected in 1842, at the sole expense of Mr. Robert 
Roberts, the proprietor, on a piece of land situated near 
Gallows-tree Bank turnpike gate, the original works in 
Willow-Street having long before been found too small and 
inconvenient to meet the increasing requirements of the town. 
The new works were built on an extended scale, and comprise 
a retort-house, purifying house, with a large tank and gas- 
ometer. The apparatus is of the usual character, including 
condenser, purifier, scrub, with fire-clay retorts, hydraulic 
main, &c. The chimney is square, and spiral in form, tapering 
to the top, and forms an object of interest on the approach to 
the town from Shrewsbury, 

THE THEATRE 

Is a small neat building in Willow-Street, but is not often 
occupied. It is the property of William Ormsby Gore, Esq., 
who, when he built it, doubtless considered he was providing 
means of rational entertainment for the inhabitants. But 
Melpomene and Thalia haye lost their charms in this district ; 
104 



THE THEATRE. 

and the immortal works of Shakspeare, Jonson, Fletcher, 
Massinger, Colman, Sheridan, Knowles, Bulwer, and others, 
are doomed to shed their fragrance only in the library or study. 
Thirty years ago the acted drama was deemed a genial and 
instructive amusement, and the boxes, pit, and gallery of 
Oswestry Theatre were frequently crowded with fashionable 
and attentive audiences. About the period to which we refer 
the Theatre was under the careful and clever management of 
Mr. Charles Stanton, who, with his family, "gained golden 
opinions," and a more than decent competence, by his 
histrionic labours. During the time he presided over the 
Thespian realm, he succeeded in attaching to his corps theatrique 
many ladies and gentlemen of talent and high principle, who 
afterwards figured with advantage in more extended spheres of 
their profession ; and whilst he held the reins of government, 
he deserved and received the good opinion of his supporters. 
After having thus briefly adverted to theatricals in Oswestry, 
it will not be inappropriate to mention, that on no occasion, 
perhaps, in the history of provincial dramatic performances, 
were more brilliant and exhilarating scenes displayed than in 
1822, when a number of ladies and gentlemen, most of them 
residents of the town or neighbourhood, kindly volunteered 
their services as dramatis persons in a series of dramatic 
productions. Three performances were determined upon, 
that a fund might be raised for establishing in the town a 
Public Library. The first took place February 15th, when 
the comedy of "\Speed the Plough" and the afterpiece of 
11 The Review" were presented. An original Prologue, from 
the pen of William Ormsby Gore, Esq., was spoken by the 
characters. The receipts of the night were £76 12s. 6d. On 
the evening of May 23rd, in the same year, Colman's comedy 
of " The Heir at Law" and the afterpiece of " The Review" 
were performed. Mr. Alderman Salisbury, a hale octoge- 
narian, spoke a Prologue to the play, attributed to Garrick. 
Colman's Epilogue was spoken by the characters. The 
receipts on this occasion were £47. The third performance, 
105 



A PROLOGUE. 

May 25th, consisted of " Speed the Plough" and the after- 
piece of " High Life below Stairs." Receipts £24. The late 
J. F. M. Dovaston, Esq., who had taken much interest in 
these performances, wrote a Prologue to " The Heir at Law," 
and it was intended that he should enact the part of Lord 
Duberly, and deliver his own witty effusion. Some 
differences, however, arose, and he did not therefore take any 
part in the performances. Although the total receipts 
amounted to the handsome sum of £147 12s. 6d., yet the 
expense of scenery, &c, exhausted nearly all the fund, and 
the original design, of establishing a Public Library, failed. 

Mr. Dovaston's Prologue is given in his volume of Poems, 
published in 1825. It forms part of the literary history of 
Oswestry, and we therefore make no apology for transferring 
it to our pages : — 

"PROLOGUE, 

■" To a Play for the Benefit of a Public Library; spoken in the character of 

Lord Duberly (formerly Old Daniel Dowlas, the Grocer). 

Oswestry Theatre, 1822. 

" Though here I struts, a lord so great and gay, 

I was but tallow-chandler t'other day; 

I've riches, dress, good dinners, rank, and station, 

But what are all these without headication ? 

If I dines out, and says but aye or no, Sir, 

As sure as figs is figs — out peeps the Grocer. 

I sees as clear as isinglass or varnish, 

Wealth without larnin is — but tawdry tarnish : 

Poor men, of Manners, Sense, and Wit all handy, 

Are to Society — bright Sugar-candy; 

While ev'n in Senate, Bar, Church, Tabernacle, 

Brass without Brains is — Brimstone without Treacle. 

" I to the Playhouse goes, to see their vainery, 
And (tho' enraptured with their fine new Scenery) 
I knows not what their wit or weeping takes there, 
Nor what they means by Sheridan or Shakspeare. 

" We've got no Books — and this our show's all brib'ry 
To ax good-natur'd folks to fill our Librey. 
We gives books to the poor — and all approves them ; 
Then why not by example shew we loves them? 
106 



©- 




0- 



HOTELS. 

" Knowledge, in this world's counting-house's mass, 
Is good store candle, mould, or brilliant gas, 
To keep our day-book faithful; which, when furl'd, 
Will post us fitter for a future world." 

It is worthy of notice also, that in the same year in which 
the performances were given in behalf of a Public Library, 
the celebrated actor, distinguished as "The Young Roscius," 
Mr. William Henry West Betty, appeared on the Oswestry 
Stage, and played several of his popular characters. Mr. Betty 
soon afterwards retired from public life ; and for many years 
past has been residing in London, having earned a handsome 
fortune, enjoying his otium cum dignitate. He was a native 
of Shrewsbury, and in right of his mother was heir to the 
extensive estate of Hopton Wafers, in Shropshire. 

THE HOTELS. 

The principal Hotels in the town are, the Cross Keys, the 
Wynnstay Arms, the .Queen's Head, and Osburn's Com- 
mercial. All these Hotels are well-conducted, and are much 
frequented by commercial travellers, private families, and 
tourists through the Principality and Border Lands. 

Educational Institutions* 

THE FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 

This ancient and valuable institution was founded and 
endowed in the reign of Henry IV., between 1399 and 1413, 
by Mr. David Holbetche, "a lawyer, steward of the towne 
and lordship," and who in the same reign was "made a 
denizen or free citizen of England." The munificent founder 
granted, for the maintenance of a schoolmaster, and the 
reparation of the school-house, certain lands in Sweeney, 
Treflach, Maesbury, and Crickheath, in addition to a house 
on the south-west side of the Parish Church. By an inquisi- 
tion under a Commission of charitable uses, taken at Oswestry, 
17th September, 1634, it was found that "how the said lands 
were granted, or to whom, or by whom, they were to be let, 
107 



THE FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 

was not known, but that the bailiffs of the town of Oswestry 
had, for the most part, jointly let the same:" and it was 
further found, "that upon the granting of certain leases 
therein-mentioned, certain sums had been paid to the bailiffs, 
or to their use, as a gratuity for making such leases ; and that 
they had cut timber upon the said estates which they had 
disposed of for their own use." In April, 1635, the Commis- 
sioners made a decree, stating " that they had not found that 
the bailiffs of Oswestry were trusted by the founder in ordering 
and disposing of the said school and school-lands, but that 
they had done the same without any just authority ; and that 
if they had been trusted therein, they had manifestly abused 
the trust, in making leases at an under- value, and for secret 
rewards for themselves, and in committing great waste upon 
the timber-trees growing upon the said premises; the said 
Commissioners decreed, that the bailiffs of the said town should 
be for ever discharged and excluded from any trust, or inter- 
meddling with the said school and school-lands, or from any- 
thing which should concern the same, otherwise than was 
thereafter limited; that the nomination and placing of the 
schoolmaster should be left to the bishop of the diocese 
according to the law ; that the schoolmaster for the time being 
should let the premises in possession, and not in reversion, 
for the term of seven years, at the yearly rents mentioned in 
a particular of the lands referred to in the inquisition, or more, 
and so as the consent of the bishop and chancellor of the 
said diocese, and of the bailiffs of the said town, or any two 
of them, whereof the bishop should be one, should be first 
had in writing, for the making of such leases ; that neither the 
master nor any of the tenants should cut or lop any timber- 
trees growing upon the premises without the like consent; 
that the then schoolmaster should, within one year, make a 
true terrier of all the school-lands and tenements, whereof one 
part should be delivered to the bishop, to be kept in his 
registrar's office, and the other to be delivered to the bailiffs, 
to be entered in the town-book. And the said Commissioners 

108 



THE FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 

further ordered* that the schoolmaster should always hare an 
usher, and allow him £10 a-year, and so much more out of the 
improved rents, as the said bishop for the time being should 
think fit ; so that the whole stipend of the usher should not 
exceed £15; and that the schoolmaster for the time .being 
should keep the school-house in repair." 

A terrier of the school-lands was accordingly taken, and the 
report was as follows :-^Cric7cheath, 24a. lr. 37p. ; Treflach, 
20a. lr. 5p. ; Sweeney, 74a. Or. lOp. ; Maesbury, 12a. Or. 29p. 
The lands in Trenach mentioned in the terrier had been held 
for many years at the ancient rents, without any variation ; and 
the Rev. James Donne, D. D. (the former master), brought 
actions of ejectment against the late Lazarus Venables, Esq. r 
and Mrs. Hilditch, who held the lands, and insisted upon their 
right to hold them, paying the accustomed rents. Upon 
the trial of these actions verdicts were given in favour of Dr. 
Donne, and the lands being very much dispersed and intermixed 
with those belonging to the defendants, the judge recommended 
that lands equal in value, and lying together, should be given 
up to the plaintiff, instead of the identical lands which were 
the subject of the suits. This recommendation was cordially 
adopted by all parties concerned, and further litigation was 
therefore avoided. 

Dr. Donne, through whose exertions these valuable proper- 
ties were recovered for Oswestry School, may justly be 
looked upon as its second Founder. He raised the character 
of the School from comparative obscurity to being second to 
none of the Grammar Schools of England. His memory is 
held in affectionate remembrance by his pupils, who, to testify 
their feelings, raised a handsome Memorial in Oswestry Parish 
Church. The inscription on this Monument speaks deservedly 
of a revered Master, and does credit to the elegant scholar- 
ship and affectionate feelings of the distinguished Pupil who 
composed it. 

Further advantageous exchanges of land have taken place 
109 



THE FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 

during the time of the present Master, which have resulted in 
attaching some of the most valuable land in the Liberties of 
Oswestry and Township of Weston to Oswestry School. 

The Rents of the property accruing to the benefit of the 
School, including a payment of £1 12s. Od. from the receiver 
of the Crown Rents, in respect of a sum of £2 charged on 
the land revenues, amount to £271 10s. 2d. Some land 
around the School-House is not included in this statement, so 
that the Endowment of the School may be considered to 
amount to £300 per annum. 

In 1776 the late Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart., gave a piece of 
land, called Cae Groes, comprising nearly eight acres, upon 
which the present School-House was erected, charged with a 
rent of £12 per annum, to the heirs of Sir W. W. Wynn ; 
and the sum of £779 4s. 8d. was subsequently subscribed 
towards completing the structure, the balance of expenses 
having been borne by Dr. Donne. 

The S chool is open to all boys born in the parish of Oswestry, 
for instruction in English, Latin, and Greek ; but it is expected 
that they should be able to read before they are admitted. 
For the before-mentioned studies no payment is demanded from 
the boys on the Foundation, except 12s. 6d. for entrance, and 
2s. a-year for fire-money. The present Master is the Rev. 
Stephen Donne, A. M., who has rilled the office since his 
appointment in 1833 with singular merit and success, and 
who has had the good fortune, during his connexion with the 
School, to acquire the esteem and confidence of his pupils, and 
the warm approval and regard of their parents and guardians. 

The course of instruction in the School is Classical and 
Mathematical, embracing strict attention to Religious know- 
ledge, with History and Geography, both Ancient and Modern ; 
and whilst pupils are prepared for the Universities, and 
Addiscombe, Woolwich, and Sandhurst, boys who have in 
view the Profession of the Law or a Commercial life, in 
addition to their other studies, are carefully trained in Writing, 
110 



THE FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 

Arithmetic, and Book-keeping. The Head Master receives 
Boarders into his House, who are treated in a liberal and 
gentlemanly spirit. Several Pupils from this School have, 
during the time of the late and present Master, highly distin- 
guished themselves at Cambridge, Oxford, Dublin, Addis- 
combe, and Woolwich. 

The late Rev. James Donne, D. D., retired from the School 
in 1833, and died at Llanyblodwel Vicarage (which he had 
re-built), January 23rd, 1844. 

The early Masters of the School we are unable to discover. 
Our list of appointments commences with the year 1537: — 
LIST OF HEAD MASTERS, 

Reynolds, .. .. .. .. .. appointed 1537 

David Morris, 1561 

Vicar of Llansilin 1561. 

John Berkley, D. D 1606 

Rector of Llanddoget 1606. He became Vicar of Llansannan 1611, 
Rector of Newtown 1613, Rector of Llanfyllin 1614, Prebendary of 
Llanvair Second Comportion 1621, and Rector of Llandyssil 1622. 

John Kyffin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Lloyd 1624 

Edward Payne, A. M 1636 

Rector of Cemmaes 1661, Vicar of Kinnerley 1668. This gentleman 
was ejected in the time of Oliver Cromwell's Usurpation. 

William Griffiths 1661 

Thomas Clopton .. .. .. .. 1672 

Rector of Cilken, 1673, Canon 1675, Rector of Llanrwst 1677, Pre- 
bendary of Myfod and Rector of Castle-Careinion 1678, and Rector 
of Christleton, Cheshire. 

John Evans .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1678 

Rector of Newtown 1666, Canon 1681, and Rector of Berriew 1686, 

Edward Wicken .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 

Andrew Guild 1694 

Thomas Jones .. .. .. .. .. ,. .. 1697 

Daniel Poole , 1705 

Lloyd . . . . . . . . . . . , . . 

Robert Patrick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Rector of Cemmaes 1717, Canon 1718, and Rector of Mallwyd 1733. 
John Skye .. .. ... .. .. ,. .. 1733 

Rector of Berriew 1730, Vicar of Llansilin 1755. 
Peter Morris .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1763 

111 



THE NATIONAL SCHOOLS. 

Owen Reynolds * about 1769 

Charles Anson Tisdale .. .. .. * 1772 

Eusebius Edwards, Pembroke College, Oxford 1781 

James Donne, M. A. .. *. «• •• «• • « 1790 

Second Master of the King's School, Chester, 1794, Minor Canon of 
Chester 1796, Vicar of Llanyblodwel 1798, and Rural Dean of 
Marchia 1803. 
Stephen Donne, M. A., Scholar of St. John's College, Cambridge, 
January .. •• •• •• •• •« *• 1833 

NATIONAL SCHOOLS. 

In the work of benevolence the borough of Oswestry has 
never acted with a niggardly hand. When the necessity of 
national education first engaged the sympathies of the com- 
munity at large, Oswestry took a distinguished part in the 
good work, and liberally provided education for the children 
of the poor, who, until that period, had had none to help 
them. So early as the commencement of the last century a 
Charity School was established for the benefit of forty chil- 
dren, of whom twenty were clothed, and all taught by a 
mistress to read and spell. When the boys were made perfect 
in the reading of certain elementary books, they were trans- 
ferred to a master ; and the girls were fully instructed, besides 
reading and spelling, in spinning, knitting, and sewing. It is 
stated on one of the tables of benefactions in the Parish 
Church, that in 1713 Mr. Thomas Owen, Vicar of Oswestry, 
left the interest of £20 for the use of this Charity School ; 
and that in 1716 the Rev. Daniel Poole, chief Schoolmaster of 
the town, left the interest of £20 for the like use. In a minute 
of vestry, dated July 5th, 1737, it is stated that £32 was 
laid out on the Poor-house in Church-Street, which sum, it 
is added, was paid out of the legacies of the Rev. T. Owen 
and the Rev. D. Poole. In December, in the same year, it 
was ordered at a vestry, that in lieu of the money laid out as 
mentioned in the preceding minute, forty shillings should be 
paid yearly toward maintaining the Charity School in the 
town of Oswestry. It does not appear what school was 
intended, or how long the payment was continued. 
112 



THE NATIONAL SCHOOLS. 

The friends of education in Oswestry, still anxious for the 
well-being of the rising generation, united together in the year 
1810 to carry out their benevolent intentions. In July of 
that year it was agreed, that the Guildhall should be appro- 
priated for the reception of boys, and the school-room situated 
in the church-yard for the reception of girls, until rooms at the 
Bailey-Head should be properly fitted up for their instruction. 
A public notice was afterwards issued, announcing "That the 
Public Charity School, belonging to the town arid parish of 
Oswestry, is now open for the instruction of boys of the age 
of five years and upwards." In November following, the 
boys' school was removed to the chapel of the House of 
Industry, the School Committee considering that such change 
would afford an opportunity to the children of parents residing 
in the country to attend the school. This plari partly failed, 
and soon afterwards convenient school-rooms, for boys and 
girls, were fitted up at the Bailey-Head, from plans by Mr. T. 
Jones, Architect. These schools were supported by general 
subscription and occasional aid from the National Society. 




NATIONAL SCHOOLS. 



At length it was deemed necessary to provide more spacious 
and convenient school-rooms, for the furtherance of the great 
113 I 



THE BRITISH SCHOOLS. 

object of education, and arrangements were made for 
accomplishing so important a design. A public subscription 
was entered into, and this was aided by grants of £338 from 
the Committee of Council on Education; £200 from the 
National Society ; and a contribution of £700 from the funds 
of the Oswestry Church Sunday School. The present 
beautiful building was accordingly erected under the Welsh 
Walls, sufficient accommodation being rendered for an Infant 
School. The structure was designed by Mr. Penson, and 
raised by Mr. J. Vaughan, Builder. As a tribute of respect to 
the memory of the late Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart., the building 
was commenced on the 22nd of May, 1841, when his son, the 
present worthy possessor of Wynnstay, attained his majority. 
The sole control of the School is vested by the trust-deed in 
the Vicar of the parish for the time being. The number of 
children at present educated in the Schools is — Boys, 78 ; 
Girls, 64 ; Infants, 57. — Master, Mr. S. S. Lees ; Mistresses, 
Miss Whitfield and Miss Pierce. 

THE PARISH CHURCH SUNDAY SCHOOL 

Was established in 1831. A zealous interest is taken in its 
prosperity by the Clergy and many persons of wealth and 
influence in the town and neighbourhood. The average 
attendance at present is 280 Scholars ; Teachers from 30 to 35. 

THE BRITISH SCHOOLS 

Were erected in 1841, at a cost, including the site, of about 
£800 ; the builder being Mr. James Vaughan. 

They are held in trust for " the education of children and 
adults, or children only, of both sexes, of the labouring, 
manufacturing, and other classes, in the town and parish of 
Oswestry, and in the several parishes adjoining;" such edu- 
cation to be conducted on the principles of the British and 
Foreign School Society. The trust includes permission to 
use the premises on week days, prior to and after school hours 
114 



THE YOUNG MEN S INSTITUTE. 

(i. e. before 9 a. m. and after 6 p. m.), for "such moral, 
literary, scientific, or other purposes," as shall be allowed in 
manner therein mentioned. The funds for the erection of 
the Schools having been subscribed chiefly by members of 
the congregation assembling at the Old Chapel, there is a 
trust assigning the use of the building on the sabbath to the 
Sabbath Schools connected with that place of worship. 

The system of education on week days being conducted on 
the principles of the British and Foreign School Society, it 
need hardly be said that no denominational catechism or 
dogma is permitted to be taught; but the Holy Scriptures 
are in daily use. 

The utility of the institution having become much crippled 
by a debt remaining on the building and an accumulation 
of current expenses, a special effort was made in the year 
1854 to throw off the incubus. The generous efforts and 
contributions of friends in the town and neighbourhood, and 
others in various parts of the kingdom, aided by a Bazaar, 
not only effected the "consummation" so "devoutly to be 
wished," but also realized a fund applicable to the substantial 
repair of the building, and a needed supply of school materials. 

The present Master and Mistress are — Mr. Farmer and 
Miss Jones. 

THE YOUNG MEN'S INSTITUTE 

Began its course about the year 1838. It was originated by 
the then minister of the Old Chapel (the Rev. W. Reeve), 
and a few members of his congregation, chiefly young men, 
who felt the importance of adopting some means calculated to 
promote the moral and intellectual advancement of the young 
men of the town, and which should offer to them a refuge and 
enticement, during the evening hours, from listlessness on the 
one hand, and from low and debasing pleasures on the other. 
115 



THE YOUNG MEN'S INSTITUTE. 

The meetings were for some time held in the vestry of the' 
Old Chapel. When the British School-rooms were erected 
in the year 1841 the opportunity was taken of endeavouring 
to extend the benefits of the Institute, by transferring its 
meetings to the lower school-room. Still it was felt by its 
friends, that it was not so used or supported as they desired ; 
but, necessity having no choice, no attempt was made for 
several years to change its location or enlarge its scope. 

At the School-roorr the Institute prospered for a consider- 
able time, and did much good; but afterwards, from one 
cause or another, it drooped, and well nigh sank. Deeming it, 
however, too good a thing to die, and thinking it possible that 
many influential parties might have withheld their sympathy 
and aid, from an idea (erroneous though it was) that the 
Institution, from its antecedents and place of meeting, was 
not entirely unsectarian and liberal, its friends made a 
successful effort in the year 1850 to resuscitate it. The 
clergy and dissenting ministers of the town, together with 
several influential lay gentlemen, formed a committee, obtained 
the use of the Guild-Hail for the meetings, and raised very 
extended subscriptions. Many excellent lectures, professional 
and amateur, were delivered, and new life seemed for a time 
to flow in the veins of the Institute. The Guild-Hail being 
found inconvenient for the Library and Reading-room, these 
were removed to rooms over the Shop of Mr. Richard Jones, 
Hatter, at the Cross. 

Subsequently, however, the falling-off of the subscriptions, 
and, it must be added, the backwardness of the young men 
generally to avail themselves of the privileges offered them, 
obliged the committee to relinquish these premises, and for 
more than a year past there seem to have been no meetings. 

It is said that "all that's fair must fade." May we hope 
that the Young Men's Institute is only slumbering, and will 
not die, or, that dying, it will rise again to a stronger, happier, 
better life. 
116 



Benevolent Institutions* 

DISPENSARY AND BATHS. 

The establishment of these two institutions is honourable to 
the founders, and, we are glad to observe, of great benefit 
to the poor and needy afflicted with disease. The origin 
of both is part of the annals of the town, and claims 
especial record in our volume. We find that in the year 1828 
a meeting of the leading gentlemen of Oswestry was held, for 
the purpose of endeavouring to establish a Dispensary. That 
assembly was presided over by William Ormsby Gore, Esq., 
and the benevolent institution was at once founded under 
most liberal auspices. Donations amounting to one hundred 
and sixty guineas were subscribed at the meeting, and a 
Committee was appointed, to carry out the objects of the 
Charity. At the same time a liberal amount in annual sub- 
scriptions was determined upon, that the new institution 
should be rendered permanent. The following parties formed 
the first Committee, &c>- • 

President : 
Wm. Ormsby Gore, Esq. 
Committee of Management: 
The Hon. Thos. Kenyon, Robt. Morrall, Esq., 

T. Bulkeley Owen, Esq., T. L. Longueville, Esq., 

J. V. Lovett, Esq., T. N. Parker, Esq., 

H. P. T. Aubrey, Esq., Rev. Thos. Hunt, 

Rev. Thos. Salwey, Rev. C. A. A. Lloyd, 

Rev. G. N. K. Lloyd, Mr. Lucas. 

Honorary Treasurer: — C. T. Jones, Esq. 

Visiting Physician: — Dr. Evans. 

Surgeons : 

Mr. Morris, Mr. E. D. Bennion, 

Mr. Cockerell, Mr. Cartwright. 

Dispenser and Secretary : — Mr. J. M. Hales. 

The original Dispensary rented for the Charity was situated 
in Lower Brook-Street; but the premises being found 
117 



THE DISPENSARY AND BATHS. 



too limited and inconvenient for the benevolent objects 
contemplated, a new building was suggested, and accord- 
ingly, in March, 1852, the Committee adopted a resolution to 
the effect, that it was desirable to erect a Dispensary, with 
Baths attached to it, for the accommodation of the public, as 
well as for the use of the patients of the institution. To 
carry out this excellent design a handsome subscription was 
entered into, amounting to between seven and eight hundred 
pounds ; to which was added, from the accumulated fund of 
the Dispensary, the sum of five hundred pounds. The 




DISPENSARY AND BATHS. 



present Dispensary and Baths were immediately erected from 
a design by It. Kyrke Penson, Esq., on ground near the site 
of the former Dispensary. The building is roomy and conve- 
nient, containing handsome and suitable rooms for the 
Dispensary, with the addition of Warm and Cold Baths, 
Shower Baths, a Vapour Bath, and Plunge Baths. 

The number of patients who have partaken, within the last 
three years, of the benefits which the Dispensary affords, shows 
the necessity and value of the institution. From May, 1851, 
to May, 1852 — Patients, 455. In 1853 — Patients, 496. 
In 1854 — Patients, 555. 
118 



THE HOUSE OF INDUSTRY. . 

The Dispensary, with the Baths, was opened May 1st, 
1854. Mr. Ormsby Gore still holds the office of President 
of the institution, and Mr. Hales continues to officiate as 
Secretary and Dispenser. The Committee and officers are : — 

Committee of Management: 
E. Wright, Esq., Rev. S. Donne, 

Rev. G. Carew, Rev. J. Luxmoore, 

R. K. Penson, Esq., J. V. Lovett, Esq., 

Thos. Minshall, Esq., Rowland J. Venables, Esq., 

Thos. Lovett, Esq., E. Williams, Esq., 

T. L. LONGUEVILLE, ESQ., JOHN CROXON, ESQ. 

Treasurer: — J. T. Jones, Esq. 
Surgeons : 
Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Blaikie, 

Dr. Fuller, Dr. Williams. 

The Trustees to whom the site for the new Dispensary and 
Baths was conveyed are, William Ormsby Gore, Esq., Thomas 
Lovett, Esq., Edmund Wright, Esq., and Thomas Longueville 
Longueville, Esq. 

The proposition for building the Dispensary with the 
addition of Baths originated with Edward Williams, Esq., of 
Lloran House; and his efficient and zealous efforts were used 
in promoting the benevolent design, which was most success- 
fully accomplished in the end. In the prosperity of so 
valuable an institution all classes in the town and populous 
neighbourhood, who are blessed with this world's goods, 
should consider it a Christian privilege to take a lively interest, 
by contributing to its funds, and thus extending its usefulness 
among the labouring poor who have few to help them. 

THE HOUSE OF INDUSTRY, 

Situated on elevated ground near the river Morda, on the 
road from Oswestry to Welshpool, was erected by virtue of 
an Act of Parliament obtained in the year 1790, and opened 
for the reception of inmates April 28th, 1791. The first 
steward and matron were Mr. Thos. Cooper and Mrs. Cooper, 
119 



THE HOUSE OF INDUSTRY. 

who held those responsible situations for the long period of 
nearly thirty years. Directors were appointed, under the Act, 
to manage the affairs of the institution, on behalf of Oswestry 
town and parish, and the other parishes also thereby incorpo* 
rated: namely, Saint Martins, Selattyn, Whittington, West 
Felton, Ruyton, Kinnerley, Knockin, and Llanyblodwel, in 
the hundred of Oswestry, and county of Salop 5 that part of the 
parish of Llanymynech which lies in the hundred of Oswestry ; 
the parish of Chirk, in the county of Denbigh; and the 
parish of Llansilin, in the counties of Salop and Denbigh, 
The Directors held their first meeting on Monday, August 
11th, 1791 : Chairman, John Lovett, Esq, Mayor of Oswestry, 
The building, of red brick, which still looks fresh and fair, 
cost £12,000. It has ever excited the attention of strangers, 
on account of its imposing stateliness of architecture, the 
exterior presenting, at the first view, the appearance of a fine 
old English baronial residence, Nicholson, in describing it 
thirty years ago, says, "it is a ridiculously-splendid brick 
building, intended, not for a purpose which its exterior seems 
to prompt, but for the abode of the indigent and wretched." 

In 1851 a slight sensation was created in the united parishes 
of Oswestry by a proposal from Mr. Doyle, Poor-Law In- 
spector, to admit six additional parishes into union with the 
Oswestry Incorporation. The Poor-Law Board had some 
time before claimed a general authority over the Incorporation, 
to which the Directors, after a slight resistance, submitted. 
Public meetings of the rate-payers of the incorporated parishes 
were held, to consider Mr. Doyle's proposal, and one also 
was convened in the Old Church, Oswestry, on Saturday, 
July 21st: Peploe Cartwright, Esq, in the chair. Mr. Doyle 
stated that certain alterations in the House of Industry would 
have to be made ; and in order to effect these improvements 
at as small a cost as possible to the incorporated parishes, he 
suggested that six other parishes should be united to the 
present, the expense being thus spread over a larger rmmW 
120 



CHARITABLE DONATIONS. 

*>f rate-payers.. The proposal was not favourably entertained, 
as such a measure would have involved the immediate disso- 
lution of the Oswestry Incorporation. A resolution was 
adopted at the meeting, " That in the absence of proper 
information and details, we are at present of opinion that it is 
not desirable to dissolve the Oswestry Incorporation." From 
that time to the present the Poor-Law Board exercise only a 
general authority over the Incorporation, whose powers, as 
denned by the Act of Parliament, with the exception just 
named, remain intact. 

In 1853 various alterations, suggested by the Poor-Law 
Board, were made in the House, at an expense of £1500. 
The average number of inmates in the Institution is 174. 
The number which the House can receive is limited by the 
Poor-Law Board to 300. The election of Directors is inde- 
pendent of the Board; they are nominated by the vestries of 
the several parishes, and appointed by the Board of Directors. 

The present officers of the Institution are as follows ;< — 
The Rev. J. Maude, Chairman ; the Rev. E. W. O. Bridgman, 
Vice- Chairman ; Mr. John Hughes, Clerk to the Directors ; 
and Mr. R. Richards, Master. Relieving Officers:— For the 
Upper Division, comprising Oswestry Town and Parish, 
Llanyblodwel, townships of Llwyntidman and Treprenal, 
Llansilin, and Selattyn, Mr. Thomas Davies. For the Lower 
Division, consisting of Chirk, Saint Martins, Whittington, 
Ruyton, West Felton, Knockin, and Kinnerley, Mr. Joseph 
Rogers. 

CHARITABLE DONATIONS TO THE POOR. 

In the present age the good old-fashioned mode of be- 
queathing some portion of worldly substance for the education 
or relief of the poor is recognized by very few of our 
wealthier fellow-countrymen. The usual channels of relief 
to the poor and needy— the Poor-Law Union, the Night 
Asylum, the Good Samaritan Society, and other institutions 
of like class—are excellent in their way, and diffuse much 
121 



CHARITABLE DONATIONS. 

benefit and comfort among the aged and indigent; but 
still our ancient charities, especially our schools and alms- 
houses, whilst they secure to their recipients permanent, 
not precarious good, shed a brilliant lustre over the land, 
and denote the kind and benignant spirit of many of our 
ancestors. Would that the old benevolent English spirit 
were revived among us, and that all affluent men, who have 
possessed their money by inheritance, or obtained it by the 
force of their talents, or success in trade or commerce, would, 
among their testamentary bequests, never fail to " remember 
the poor." Then should we have comfortable asylums for 
many hoary-headed men and women, who, reduced by mis- 
fortune, or overwhelmed by the distressing calamities of life, 
have no place of quiet shelter — no resting-place in which to 
pass the residue of their days. 

The following list of Charitable Donations, left for the 
benefit of the poor of Oswestry, shows that in days gone by, 
the weak were not overlooked by the strong, and that many, 
imbued with practical Christian benevolence, deemed it their 
duty to aid, not only the poor of their own days, but those 
also of succeeding generations. The only Aims-Houses in 
the town are those situated near the turnpike-gate in Willow- 
Street. They are six in number, and were left by Dame 
Ellen, widow of Sir Francis Eure. Mrs. Jane Owen, in 1732, 
bequeathed to the twelve poor persons (six men and six 
women), inmates of the alms-houses, the sum of 18s. to be 
paid to them yearly, for ever, and also ordered her executor 
to charge her real and personal estate with the payment 
thereof. Mrs. M. Ormsby, by her will in 1805, requested 
her daughter (the present Mrs. Ormsby Gore), and those who 
should succeed her in the Porkington Estate, would pay "as 
she had done," the poor people in the alms-houses for ever. 
Mrs. Ormsby Gore regularly distributes £3 among the in- 
mates on Christmas-Day, that being the sum her mother had 
previously given. The alms-houses are kept in good repair 
by Mrs. Ormsby Gore, and she selects the inmates. 
122 



TABLE OF CHARITABLE DONATIONS. 



























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TABLE OF CHARITABLE DONATIONS. 





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TABLE OF CHARITABLE DONATIONS. 




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TABLE OF CHARITABLE DONATIONS. 






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B.-S 

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Feast of St. Si- 
mon and St. 
Jude. 


Money to be 
distribtd. at 
Christmas, 


-°^ 

■O.S 

£ « 2 

£"« 
«3 


^She distributes 10s, 
upon All-Saints* 
Day, at Sweeney 
Mountain, to poor 
persons of Sweeney 
and Weston, in 
money; and also 

^ another 10s. in bread 

f Church- wardens, in 
1 flannel 


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Margt. Oliver 

Mayor & Cor- 
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Jane Owen. . 


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A field called Cae" 
Mark, in the Parish 
of Llanyblodwel, 
occupied by Margt. 
Oliver; consists now 
of ahouse and build- 
ings, and several 
small closes . . 

In 1833, £522 7s^ 
10d., which, after 
certain deductions, 
left £186 8s. 8d. to 
be distributed be- 
tween the Parishes 
of St. Chad, Shrews- 
bury, Oswestry, El- 
lesmere, and Whit- 
church * . . . J 

Porkington Alms hou-" 
ses, and 18s. per 
annum to poor peo- 
ple occupying them, 
since incrsd. to £3., 


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02 H 


Will . . 

Will, 24th Ap. 
1661.. .. 

Will . . . . 


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Pierce 

James Phillips . . 


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TABLE OF CHARITABLE DONATIONS. 



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BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS. 

LIST OF CHARITIES FOR THE USE OF THE CHURCH- 
WARDENS, CONSISTING OF SUCH ONLY AS ARE PAID 
TO AND DISTRIBUTED BY THEM. 



Charities relating to the Town only. 



Yale's; Morris's; Witcherley's ; Sontley's; Donor unknown, (Owen?) 
Land in Beatrice Street; Muckleston Allen's; Lloyd and Peacock's; 
Muckleston's (Poor of Oswestry) ; Margaret Lloyd's ; Elizabeth Williams's 
(Mixon Hall) ; Rebecca Lloyd's (Freeman). 



Charities relating jointly to the Town and Parish. 



Morgan's; Gough's ; Winifred Matthews' s ; Turner's; Sir William 
Williams's. 



Charities relating to the Parish only. 



Elizabeth Williams's (Croft at Croes-Wylan) ; Jeffreys's. 

The SOCIETY for BETTERING the CONDITION 
of the POOR, 

Within the Hundred of Oswestry, was established in or about 
the year 1812, by the late Rev. C. A. A. Lloyd, Rector of 
Whittington, and the late Rev. G. N. K. Lloyd, Rector of 
Selattyn. The objects of the Society at its original insti- 
tution were — the encouragement of schools for the education 
of the lower classes ; the increase of the comforts of the poor 
in their dwellings, by the improvement of cottages ; the dis- 
tribution of moral and religious books and tracts; the 
encouragement and promotion of friendly societies ; the 
establishment of a bank for the poor, paying interest for 
small sums ; and, finally, the distribution of rewards among 
the poor for extraordinary acts of industry. 

During the progress of the Society very much has been 
done in the neighbourhood, through its instrumentality, with 
129 K 



BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS* 

regard to the above objects. Several schools were estab- 
lished soon after its commencement, and a vast number of 
moral and religious publications have been given as prizes, 
from time to time, to the best-informed children, and also as 
rewards for proficiency in writing, drawing, sewing, &c. With 
respect to the improvement of cottages, the Society issued 
several small publications some years ago, directing the 
attention of owners of property to this very important social 
amelioration ; some plans were also engraved, and rules 
printed, relative to the building of habitations for the poor. 
Through the influence of this institution some Friendly 
Societies were established, and also (which is well worthy of 
notice) a Savings' Bank for the poor, about four years before 
the present excellent institution commenced operations in 
conformity with an Act of Parliament passed on the subject. 
As soon as the Government Savings' Bank was opened, the 
funds of the former were transferred to it. 

Subjoined are specimens of some of the prizes which were 
offered by the Society during the year 1854: — 

No. 2. — To the Labouring Cottager who shall be found to occupy the 
best-furnished, neatest, and cleanest Cottage, together with the best- culti- 
vated Garden, the same being not less than a quarter of an acre in extent : 

£. s. d. 

First Prize 1 10 

Second ditto , ... 1 

Third ditto 10 

No. 5. — To the most deserving Widow, who under the greatest difficulties 
has supported herself by her own unassisted exertions : 

£. s. d. 

First Prize 10 

Second ditto « 15 

Third ditto 10 

No. 8. — To the Cottager, or Farming Servant, who shall have accumu- 
lated most money in the Savings' Bank, the same to have arisen entirely 

from his or her own earnings : 

£. s. d. 

First Prize 2 

Second ditto 1 

130 



FRIENDLY SOCIETIES. 

No recipients of parish relief are allowed to become candi- 
dates for any of the prizes. 

It is to be regretted that the Society, since the loss of its 
benevolent founders, has been in a declining state ; but it is to 
be hoped that an institution which has effected so much 
social and domestic comfort, and advanced the cause of 
morality and vital religion, will not, in this wealthy district, 
be allowed to expire for want of support. Franklin has well 
observed, that "more will be done for the happiness of the 
poor by inuring them to provide for themselves, than could 
be done by dividing all your estates among them." To 
establish principles of self-reliance among a people is to 
secure to them respectability and a manly independence of 
character. 

FRIENDLY SOCIETIES. 

There are several Friendly Societies in Oswestry, all of 
which are conducted with prudence and judgment, and are 
at present in a state of prosperity. The following is a 
list of these institutions: — 

Sun Friendly Society, established 1765, consisting of 107 Members. 
The Feathers Friendly Society, established 1830, consisting of 150 

Members. 
King Oswald Lodge of Odd Fellows, No. 603 Manchester Unity, 
established 1833, consisting of 153 Members. Held at Osburn's 
Hotel. 
Philanthropic Lodge of ditto, No. 1637, established 1838, having 50 

Members. Held at the George Inn. 
Duke of Cornwall Court of Foresters, No. 86, established 1840, con- 
sisting of 86 Members. Held at the Unicorn Inn. 




Crrlmaatirul 35tBfnnj, 



THE PARISH CHURCH. 

his ancient fabric, though having no pretensions to 
jj§(^ beauty of architecture, externally or internally, yet, 
from its size and the massiveness of its ivy-mantled tower, has 
a venerable and somewhat imposing aspect. Girded on the 
west side by noble elm trees, and on the north by an avenue 
of limes, its tower presents on every side an object of much 
interest in the surrounding country. The eye even of the 
casual observer cannot fail to remark how much the fabric 
has suffered in former times, little probably of the original 
structure remaining. The different styles of architecture 
in the present building might enable the antiquary to 
decide with some probability when each particular part was 
restored. The only windows possessing any architectural 
beauty are those in St. Mary's chancel, and it is to be 
lamented that, when the south side of the chancel was restored 
some years ago, the new windows were not made uniform 
with these. At present nothing can be more incongruous than 
the different styles which present themselves on every side. 

There are perhaps few churches, in a parish so large and 
important as Oswestry, which contain so meagre a collection 
of records relating to it. Doubtless many of the books 
belonging to it were lost during the disturbed times which 
ended in the establishment of the Commonwealth. The old 
Vicarage House is supposed to Lave been burnt down, either 
at this time or in some former incursions of the Welsh. It 
stood on the north side of the church-yard, and when this site 
132 



THE PARISH CHURCH. 

was exchanged with the late Mr. Lloyd, of Swan Hill, by the 
then Vicar, for what is now the New Church- Yard, and which 
then became the Vicar's Croft, the row of trees forming the 
north side of the avenue, though separated by a wall from 
the church-yard, was expressly reserved as belonging to the 
church; and the present owner of that property has no right 
to cut down, or even to lop, the trees; whilst the Vicar has 
at all times power to enter upon the premises to plant new 
trees, if any of the present ones should be blown down or 
injured. The croft which became the Vicar's, by the above 
exchange with Mr. Lloyd, was again exchanged by the late 
Lord Powis for what is now the Vicar's land in Salop Road, 
and Lord Powis then gave the croft thus obtained as a free 
gift to the parish for a new Burial-ground. This, however, 
is already nearly filled, and as the Old Church-yard, ought 
unquestionably to be shut up and disused for burials, another 
and a larger Burial-ground is much needed. 

In the year 1748 Mrs. Margaret Godolphin endeavoured 
to remedy the loss of the old Vicarage House, by leaving to 
the Vicar and his successors for the time being a small tene- 
ment at the back of Cross-Street, as a residence, but coupled 
with this proviso, that if the Vicar should not occupy it 
himself, then it was to be let by the Churchwardens, and the 
rent appropriated in putting out apprentices from amongst 
the poor. It does not appear that the house so given by 
Mrs. Godolphin was ever occupied by any Vicar, and it 
consequently fell at once under the second provision of the 
will, and became a sort of Poor-house for the town. This 
continued till the year 1823, when the house was exchanged 
for more desirable premises in Brook-Street, which were for 
many years occupied by the present Vicar ; but in consequence 
of his non-residence, through ill health, the property has been 
given up by him, and has once more reverted to the second 
purpose of the charity. 
133 



THE PARISH CHURCH, 

The antiquity of the church, as we have already intimated, 
is not clearly defined in any of the books relating to the history 
of the county. In the records of the Augmentation Office the 
following minutes are made in reference to the Rectory and 
Vicarage of Oswestry : — " The Church of Oswestry is doubt- 
less,of great antiquity. There was certainly a vicarage here 
antecedent to the formation of the Valor by Pope Nicholas 
IV., A. D. 1291 ; for in the record, the original of which is 
preserved in the Exchequer, Oswestry is thus recorded:— 



5APH r SPIRITUALITIES. 


DEANERY OF MARCHIA. 




Church of Oswalstrce : 




£. s. 


d. 


ectory 26 13 


4 


icarage . , . . . > 8 13 


4 



" From this it is evident that the vicarial endowment of 
Oswestry must be of a date prior to 1291 ; and in all proba- 
bility, therefore, so ancient as to preclude the expectation of 
;ts being extant. 

" The Church of Oswestry was, in early times, given to the 
Monastery of Shrewsbury, and afterwards appropriated there- 
to, and the rectory and tithes converted to the uses of the 
said monastery. They continued to belong to the monastery 
until, as one of the great religious houses, Shrewsbury was, 
by force of the statute of 31 Henry VIII., dissolved, when 
its tithes and other possessions came into the hands of the 
crown." The tithes of Oswestry afterwards became the 
property of the Earl of Arundel, Lord of Oswestry, and then 
of the Earl of Powis, who sold them in 1819 (excepting the 
liberties of Oswestry town and Middleton township) to Mr. 
W. Lloyd, of Aston, Mr. T. N. Parker, of Sweeney, the Hon. 
T. Kenyon, of Pradoe, and others. 

Within the tower of the church are eight silver-toned bells, 
whose joyous peals on occasions of festivity give hilarity to 
134 



THE PARISH CHURCH. 

all who hear them. A new clock was substituted for an 
old one in 1836, the cost of which was paid by public 
subscription. 

The church is dedicated to St. Mary. A new organ was 
erected by subscription in 1812; and the organist, by the 
adoption of effective sacred music, and the choir, by its able 
execution of the beautiful psalmody selected, contribute much 
to the solemnity and effect of public worship in this venerable 
church. The present Organist is Mr. Edward Eyeley. It 
is stated that the old organ, a fine-toned instrument, is fixed 
in one of the metropolitan churches. 

The interior of the church, especially on a Sabbath morn- 
ing, when a numerous congregation generally assembles, 
presents a most delightful spectacle. The place wjiere, for 
ages past, divine worship has been held, and the footsteps of 
grandsires and great-grandsires have led them to bow before 
the " throne of the heavenly grace," cannot fail to exhibit an 
affecting scene to all who understand the frailty and brevity 
of human life. 

The church was enlarged and beautified in 1807: and in 
1831 a new entrance door was completed at the east or 
chancel end. A great improvement in the interior, both as 
to comfort and effect, would still be added, were a new set of 
pews erected. Many of the present pews are most unsightly 
and inconvenient. A new set, formed on the most approved 
principle of church seat-accommodation, would be acceptable to 
all pew-holders, giving neatness and adding comfort within the 
fabric which every member of the congregation would heartily 
approve. The inhabitants of the parish have accomplished 
much, in the way of public improvement, within the last few 
years ; and the alterations we have now suggested would be 
a crowning point to their spirited exertions for the benefit 
and honour of the town.. The altar-piece might be removed, 
and a more suitable one introduced, at a trifling expense. 

The Communion Plate belonging to the church consists of 
the following articles :— A silver cup, bearing the inscription, 
135 



THE PARISH CHURCH. 



" Ex Dono Dauidi Edwards"; another cup, dated 1575, the 
gift of " Richard Stanni," "Elder Mercer"; a silver flagon, 
the letters "I, H. S." engraved thereon, with the inscription, 
" Given for the use of the Holy Communion, in the Parish 
Church of Oswestry, 1707"; and two silver salvers, the gift 
of Mrs. Elizabeth Roderick. 

The Church- Yard is no ordinary resting-spot for the dead. 
As we have already said, it would be well now to close it as 
a place of sepulture. Sanitary motives would urge this 
change ; and the feelings of those whose departed relatives or 
friends are about to be consigned to the grave should be 
religiously deferred to. The Church-yard may soon be sur- 
rounded by human dwellings, and then the newly-laid dead 
will lie amidst the busy living. 

Its beautiful avenue, rendered still more pleasant in spring, 
summer, and autumn, by the lofty row of lime-trees which 
separates it from the space appropriated to the tenements of 
the dead, might be made still more impressive in character, 
were a neat lattice-work constructed, extending from tree to 

tree, to mark the line of 
demarcation between the 
avenue and church-yard 
more distinctly. A sketch 
of the Avenue, with the 
Alcove at the west end, is 
here given, as well as the 
florid, chastely-designed 
Gate leading to it from 
Church - Street. This 
gate was put up in 1738, 
at the expence of the 
parish. Country church- 
yards are always deeply 
interesting to the con- 
templative and thought- 
ihb church gate akd ave»ui5. ful ; and Gray's truthful 

m 




THE PARISH CHURCH. 

and pathetic Elegy, which appeals so powerfully to the "best 
feelings of our nature, has invested them, however rude and 
humble, with an affecting character that touches the hearts 
even of the most indifferent. Oswestry Church- Yard, with its 
aged elms of more than a century's growth ; its sombre yews ; 
its stately tombs and humble graves for patrician and plebeian 
dust, " the rich and the poor meeting together," is a scene 
conveying monitory lessons to all who will seriously read them. 
Among the tombs are several, bearing appropriate inscriptions, 
containing the ashes of French prisoners of war, who died in 
Oswestry on their parole, between the years 1811 and 1814. 
The ancient entrance to the Church-yard from Upper Brook- 
Street, through the Griddle Gate, is a curious relic of bye- 
gone times. Formerly, on occasions of burial from the south 




THE GRIDDLE GATE. 



side of the town, the coffin of a deceased party was placed 
temporarily on a bier within the porch of the Griddle Gate, 



THE PARISH CHURCH. 

and thence conveyed to the church. It will be seen from the 
engraving we give of this Gate that it was erected in 1631. 

We may here state that the elm-trees in the church-yard 
were planted at the expense of the Rev. Thomas Owen, 
when Vicar of the Parish, between the years 1707 and 1713. 

Jttonumente antr ^ailets foitijin tfje Cjjttrrfj* 

How valuable are Monumental Inscriptions, when they 
are the records of truth, and affectionate tributes to departed 
worth ! The tablets on our church walls are silent, but often 
effective monitors, reviving drooping spirits, recalling scenes 
of sublunary enjoyments, transient as the stay of the dew-drop 
in the sun, and suggesting the brevity and uncertainty of 
human existence. Within Oswestry Church, as well as in its 
grave-yard, most of the Monuments and Inscriptions are 
simple, chaste, and impressive. They either plainly mark 
the spot where lies the departed body, or touchingly express 
the natural grief of surviving relatives or friends. Whilst 
wandering among the habitations of the dead, and viewing, 
with "slow and solemn steps," the houses, for rich and poor, 
"appointed for all men living," we can sympathize with 
Salopia's own sweet poet, in his beautiful apostrophe : 

" Thou, sainted Memory, art mine, 
And smiling Hope, of birth divine, 
Ev'n now I feel your mingled pow'r, 
Ev'n in this solitary hour." 

On the north wall, within the church, is an ancient monument 
exhibiting a male and female kneeling. 

" In memory of Mr. Hugh Yale, alderman of this town, and Dorothy 
his wife, daughter of Roger Roden, Esq., of Burton, in the county of 
Denbigh, whose bodies are interred within ye chancel of this church, com- 
monly called St. Mary's, before its demolition in the late wars, anno 1616. 
They gave to ye poor of this town the yearly interest and benefice of one 
hundred pounds, to continue for ever; besides other good acts of charity." 
138 



MONUMENTS WITHIN THE CHURCH. 

Beneath, this inscription : 
" Underneath are interred the remains of Margaret, the wife of David 
Yale, Esq., daughter and heiress of Edward Morris, of Cae-mor, Gent. 
She departed this life, the 20th day of December, 1754, aged 66. Also lye 
the remains of David Yale, Esq., who dy'd January the 29th, 1763, aged 
81. This was erected by her son, John Yale, of Plas yn Yale, Clerk." 

In 1721 died Edward Yale. There is a monument to him 
in Wrexham Church, with the following inscription : — 

"Born in America, and in Europe bred, 
In Africa travell'd, and in Asia wed, — 
Where long he liv'd and thriv'd — in London died." 



On marble tablets on the same side : 
"Near this small monument lie the remains of Mrs. Mary Griffiths, 
the wife of William Griffiths, Gent, one of the aldermen of this corporation: 
she died on the 9th day of August, 1774, in the 70th year of her age. 
Likewise the remains of the said William Griffiths, who died the 14th 
day of November, 1791, in the 81st year of his age." 



"Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth, the beloved wife of John Jones, 
Esq., of Brook Street, who departed this life the 2nd of February, 1835, 
aged 68. Also to the memory of the above-named John Jones, who 
departed this life the 8th of June, 1846, aged 86." 



"Vaughan Barrett, Esq., died 17th October, 1772, aged years; 

Mary, relict of Vaughan Barrett; Esq., daughter of Thomas Kynaston, 
Esq., of Maesbury Hall, in the county of Salop, died 28th of May, 1779, 

aged years; Elizabeth, daughter-of Vaughan and Mary Barrett, died 

6th March, 1792, aged 58 years; Letitia, daughter of Vaughan and Mary 
Barrett, died 25th of March, 1803, aged 71 years. This testimony of 
affection and regard is erected to their memory by Edward Disbrowe, Esq., 
of Walton-upon-Trent, in the county of Derby." 



"In memory of Elizabeth Venables, who died July, 1772, aged 39; 
Sarah Venables, who died June, 1807, aged 70 ; Margaret Venables, 
who died June, 1814, aged 80. Their remains are interred in an adjacent 
vault. They lived virtuously, and 'all died in faith,' in stedfast hope of 
a blessed resurrection." 

" Likewise in memory of Mary Ashburn, sister of the above-named, 
who died October 14th, 1817, aged 81, beloved and lamented." 
139 



MONUMENTS WITHIN THE CHURCH. 

On mural monuments on the north side of the chancel : 
"M. S. RICHARDUS MAURICE, Arm. Ad pedem Columnae huic 

Marm. oppositse Exuvias Mortales Uxoris Alicia, Filiae Thomas Carpenter, 
De Home, Com. Herefordiae, Arm., cum unica ex eadem Filia Anna, tum- 
ulavit, September 4, A. D. 1700, JEt&t. 22. Et Margarets itidem, 
Secundis illi Nuptiis conjunctse, Filise Johannis Price, A. M., ex qua Unum 
suscepit Filium, Johannem, cum Matre placide dormientem. Denat. 
September 4, A. D. 1716, iEtat. 32. In Uxorum et Liberorum Memo- 
riam, H. M. R. Maurice, P j C, in eodem Tumulo et suos aliquando 
Cineres depositurus, iEterna Requie fruiturus, si erga Deum Pietas, erga 
Pauperes Benignitas, erga Omnes summa Benevolentia illam Requiem 
afferre valeant. Obiit Primo die Junii, An. Salutis 1749, et suae iEtatis 84." 



"MDCCCXII. In memory of Lewis Jones, Esq., for fourteen years 
town- clerk of Oswestry: he died June 5th, in the 56th year of his age. 
This tablet was erected by the corporation of this town, in token of their 
affectionate remembrance of a man, who was remarkable for his knowledge 
of the laws of his country, and for his readiness in imparting that knowledge, 
with a view to prevent litigation among his neighbours." 



" To the memory of Elizabeth, the wife of Mr. Lewis Jones, who died 
26th of September, 1801, in the 38th year of her age. This small tribute 
of affectionate regard, as a testimony of her worth, and an expression of his 
own deep regret, is placed by her surviving husband." 



"Sacred to the memory of Captain Robert Watkin Lloyd, of major- 
general Gwynne's regiment of cavalry, only son of Robert Lloyd, Esq., of 
Swan Hill, aged 17. He fell a victim to the yellow fever, on the 26th of 
June, 1794, at Port au Prince, in Saint Domingo, having survived the 
capture of that place. In him were united a mind firm and vigorous; a 
disposition kind and benevolent; manners engaging and mild, giving 
promise of a character which might one day have added lustre to his pro- 
fession ; have adorned the circle of polished society, and have sweetened the 
enjoyments of domestic life." "Sacred also to the memory of Robert 
Lloyd, Esq., of Swan Hill, father of the above-named Robert Watkin 
Lloyd, who departed this life on the 3rd day of October, 1803, aged 58. 
By that event, his family lost an affectionate husband and father ; the 
county an upright magistrate; and the public an amiable man." 



A monument at the north end of the chancel : 
"Robert Powell Lloyd, son of Robert Lloyd, of Swan Hill, Esq., 
140 



MONUMENTS WITHIN THE CHURCH. 

by Sarah, his second wife, died 11th March, Anno 1769, and was interred 
in the vault beneath, aged 5 years. Sarah, mother of the above R. P. Lloyd, 
died 19th of August, 1790, aged 59 years; also Robert Lloyd, Esq., the 
father, died 5th of April, 1793, aged 72 years." 



A neat tablet at the same end : 

"Sacred to the memory of Thomas Trevor, clerk, M, A., son of Roger 
Trevor, of Bodynfol, in the county of Montgomery, Esq., Vicar of this parish 
50, and of Ruabon, 15 years; chaplain to Sir W. Williams Wynne, baronet; 
and one of his Majesty's justices of the peace for the counties of Salop and 
Denbigh, who died the 29th of February, 1784, aged 76. Of manners un- 
affected, he performed the service of the church with a peculiar grace ; and by 
a propriety of elocution, attracted the attention, and raised the devotion of 
his hearers. He was an active and upright magistrate, tender husband, kind 
relation, and steady friend. He married twice — first, Elizabeth, daughter 
of Edward Maurice, of Trefedrhyd, in the county of Montgomery, Esq., 11th 
June, 1762; afterwards, Anne, daughter of Gabriel Wynne, of Dolarddyn, 
Esq., and relict of George Robinson, of Brithdir, Esq., both in the county 
of Montgomery, who survived." 



On tablets near the communion table : 

" Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Turner Edwards, L. L. B., Vicar of 
this parish, and of Llansilin, in the county of Denbigh ; rural dean of Marchia, 
in the diocese of St. Asaph ; and one of his Majesty's justices of the peace for the 
county of Salop: he departed this life on the 10th of January, 1803, 
aged 44, leaving an afflicted widow, with five children, to deplore his 
untimely loss. Also underneath lie the remains of Sarah, relict of the 
above Rev. Turner Edwards, and second daughter of the late William Birch 
Basnett, Esq.; she departed this life on the 16th December, 1814, aged 52. 
This monument, a slender token of duty and affection, was erected by their 
surviving children, Turner, John, William, James, and Mary Anne." 



" Sacred to the memory of the Reverend Joseph Venables, L. L. B., 
who was born 31st August, 1726, and died 14th August 1810. As a 
minister of the Gospel, he illustrated his precepts by his example, by his 
piety, benevolence, and general character as a man. To his relations, his 
affection and kindness were unbounded ; for society, his friendship was ardent 
and sincere; and when his Creator called him to another and a better world, 
he closed a long and well-spent life, respected and lamented." 



141 



MONUMENTS WITHIN THE CHURCH 



A tablet near the communion table : 
"To the memory of Thomas Kynaston, of Maesbury, Esq., who died 
in 1710, aged 33; also of three of his children, and five grand-children." 



On a plain slab near the town door : 
" Sweeney Vault. — Underneath lie the^ remains of Edward Browne, 
Esq., who departed this life 22nd of February, 1794, aged 80." 



On a neat marble tablet near the above : 

"Edvardo Browne, de Oswestry, in comitatu Salopiensi, armigero, 

qui vixit ann. 80. Decessit 8 Calend. Mart., Anno sacro 1794. Sara, 

conjux Thomse Netherton Parker, haeres ejus, ex asse, pio gratoque animo 

in avunculum optime de se meritum, hoc monumentum faciendum curavit." 



Mural monuments near the above : 
"M. S. Jacobi Donne, S. T. P., Ecclesia? BlOdwell, in agro Salopiensi, 
Vicarii, qui, dum Scholae Oswestriensi per annos 36 prsefuit, quid sit verus 
ingenuarum artium finis, quid erga Deum patriamque pietas, quid strenua 
ilia honestas, nominis Britannici prisca propugnatrix, praeceptis, exemplo, 
tota vitae ratione, pro virili edocuit. Quanta denique Religionis Christiana? 
vis, ipse jam tandem placida senectute degens otium, et ad extremam vitse 
horam sacris Uteris officiisque deditus sanctioribus, sibi suisque feliciter 
demonstravit. Hoc monumentum poni curaverunt, qui, discipliha pueri tarn 
honesta instituti, provectioribus jam annis venerandi illius capitis testari 
volunt desiderium." 



"Sacred to the memory of Charles Penson, a friend and instructor of 
the poor, and a lover of all who loved the Lord Jesus Christ. He died 
November 26th, 1836, aged 40 years. Although nearly blind, he was an 
honoured instrument in God's hand in turning many from darkness to 
light. His life was spent in an active course of self-denying Christian 
benevolence, yet ever counting himself an unprofitable servant. In life and 
in death he had but one ground of hope, the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. 
Near this place he long sat as a Teacher in the Sunday School, labouring to 
make known to others that Saviour whom he had found so precious to his 
own soul. ' His faith follow, considering the end of his conversation ; 
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.' Heb. xiii, 7, 8. 
This tablet is erected to his memory by many who esteemed him very 
highly in love, for his work's sake." 

142 



MONUMENTS IN THE CHURCH-YARD. 

Tablet on a pillar in the chancel : 
" Sacred to the memory of Richard Price, surgeon, one of the senior 
aldermen of this town, obt. 26th September, 1790, set. 68. Also to the 
memory of Susanna, wife of Nathaniel Price, Esq., who departed this life 
February 23rd, 1844, aged 67 years. Also of Nathaniel Price, Esq., 
who departed this life May 22nd, 1847, aged 67 years. This tablet was 
erected as a tribute of affection by Harriet, daughter of Susanna and 
Nathaniel Price." 



A brass plate near the organ gallery steps : 
"Mary, wife of Humphrey Mostyn, Esq., died September 3rd, 1781, 
aged 60. Also of Humphrey, youngest son of William Mostyn, Esq., of 
Brongwyn, Montgomeryshire, died 12th of January, 1786, aged 60." 



Scroll, surmounted by military insignia, on south-east wall : 
" Sacred to the memory of Captain Owen Arthur Ormsby Gore, of 
the 43rd Light Infantry, third son of William Ormsby Gore, Esq., M. P., of 
Porkington, who fell in action with the Caffres, at the head of his Company, 
on the 6th of April, 1852, at ' Antas Cave,' British Caffraria. This monu- 
ment was erected by Jus brother officers, as a mark of their affectionate 
regard." 

Arms — Motto, "In hoc signo vinces." 



Tablet, surmounted by an urn : 
"Sacred to the memory of Henry Pinson Tozer Aubrey, Esq., of 
Broom Hall, in this Parish, who died deeply and deservedly lamented, 
September 30th, 1848, aged 69." 

" The memory of the just is blessed." 



Jlonumatts in fyt Cljurrfj^artr* 

We select the following from various parts of the Church- 
yard : — 

"Sacred to the memory of Samuel Leach, Esq., Llanforda Issa, and an 
alderman of the corporation of this town, who departed this life November 
4th, 1833, aged 67 years." 

"Sacred to the memory of Mary, relict of the late Samuel Leach, who 
departed this life February 25th, 1838, aged 60 years." 

143 



MONUMENTS IN THE CHURCH-YARD. 

"To the memory of the Rev. John Sheil, Incumbent of Cannock, 
Staffordshire, who died at Oswestry, September 24th, 1841, aged 61. This 
tribute of esteem and regard, is erected by his former pupils — Arthur 
Viscount Dungannon, of Brynkinalt, and the Rev. John Parker, Vicar 
of Blodwel." 



"Thomas Hunt, died February 17th, 1831, aged 69 years. Susanna, 
widow of the said Thomas Hunt, died August 21st, 1844, aged 82 years." 



"Sacred to the memory of Francis Campbell, Esq., an alderman of 
the corporation of this borough, who died September 26th, 1841, aged 73. 
Also, Mary Campbell, relict of the above, who died April 30th, 1845, 
aged 78." 

"Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth, daughter of the late Thomas 
Peate, Esq., of Preeshenlle, who died November 6th, 1841, aged 67 years." 

"Sacred to the memory of John Tomley, Gent., late of Middleton, in 
this parish, who died August 25th, 1808, aged 74 years." 



"Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth, the beloved wife of John Jones, 
Esq., who departed this life, the 2nd February, 1835, aged 68. Also to 
the memory of the above-named John Jones, who departed this life the 8th 
June, 1846, aged 86." 

"Sacred to the memory of Randle Jones, son of John and Elizabeth 
Jones, who departed this life April 10th, 1821, aged 23 years." 

"Sacred to the memory of Mary, youngest daughter of John and 
Elizabeth Jones, who departed this life January 27th, 1833, aged 31 years." 

"Sacred to the memory of Emma, the beloved wife of John Jones, jun. 
Esq., who died June 19th, 1834, aged 37." 

"Sacred to the memory of Eliza, eldest daughter of John and Elizabeth 
Jones, who departed this life the 24th May, 1854, aged 61 years." 



"Sacred to the memory of Skinner Hancox, Esq., late colonel of the 

7th Dragoon Guards, who departed this life January 27th, 1843, aged 55." 

"If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But 

there is forgiveness with Thee, that thou mayest be feared." 

Psalm- c xxx : 3, 4. 



"Sacred to the memory of General John Despard, late colonel of the 
5th West India regiment, who died at Swanhill, September 3rd, 1829, in 
the 85th year of his age, after having honorably served his country for 70 
years. Also of Harriet Anne, sister of the late Sir Thomas Dalrymple 
Hesketh, Bart., of Rufford Hall, Lancashire, and relict of the above General 
John Despard. She died at Brighton, May 14th, 1848, aged 76 years." 
144 



MONUMENTS IN THE CHURCH-YARD. 

"Conway Longueville, eldest daughter of Thomas Longueville 
Longueville and Anne, his wife, died 17th March, 1854, aged 14 years." 

"Charles Henry Longueville, their youngest son, died 30th June, 
1854, aged 6 years." 



"In memory of John Croxon, alderman of this town, Who died March 
21st, 1803, aged 66; and of Alice, his wife, daughter of Richard and Alice 
Jones. She died July the 19th, 1824, aged 87. Elizabeth, wife of Samuel 
Tudor, of Shrewsbury, and daughter of the above-named John and Alice 
Croxon, died January the 24th, 1811, aged 36." 

"Sacred also to the memory of Richard Croxon, of this town, eldest 
son of the said John and Alice Croxon, who died the 31st July, 1838, 
aged 70." 



"Here lie the remains of Alexander Kyffin, who died August 10th, 
176G, aged 51. Also of Margaret, his wife, who died December 20th, 
1815, aged 73," 

"In memory of Sarah, wife of Charles Osburn, who died February 11th, 
1851, aged 66. Also of the above-named Charles Osburn, who died 
February 16th, 1851, aged 66." 



"Sacred to the memory of William Price, who died November 4th, 
1847, aged 70 years. Also of Jane, widow of the said William Price, who 
died April 10th, 1848, aged 68 years." 



"Sacred to the memory of Charles Thomas Jones, late of this Town, 
Banker, who died 16th October, 1847, aged 70 years." 



"Sacred to the memory of Robert Edwards, late of the Queen's Head 
Inn, in this Town, who died February 2nd, 1843, aged 62. And of Sarah, 
his beloved wife, who died April 7th, 1843, aged 59. Also of Thomas, 
third son of the above Robert and Sarah Edwards, who died June 20th, 
1843, aged 27 years. Life, how short, how uncertain! Look, O! look on 
this monument, ye gay and careless ; attend to these dates, and boast no 
more of to-morrow. 

1 Father, thy chastening hand we own, 

And bow submission to Thy rod; 
That must be wise which Thou hast done* 

It must be kind, for Thou art God.' " 
145 L 



MONUMENTS IN THE CHURCH-YARD. 

" In memory of Robert, second son of Robert and Sarah Edwards, who 
died December 1st, 1808, aged one year. Also of Robert, their fourth son, 
who died January 20th, 1818, aged 6 months. Also of Martha, their 
fourth daughter, who died March 8th, 1823, aged 11 months. Also of 
Sophia, their fifth daughter, who died May 15th, 1824, aged 4 months. 
Also of Robert Edwards, grandfather of the above infants, who died 
May 10th, 1837, aged 84." 

"Sacred to the memory of Joseph, fifth son of Robert and Sarah 
Edwards, who died May 2nd, 1851, aged 32." 



"In a vault beneath are deposited the remains of William Jones, late 
Ironmonger, of this town, who died December 28th, 1827, in the 71st year 
of his age. Also the remains of Elizabeth Jones, relict of the above, 
who died April 12th, 1843, aged 81." 

" Thomas, youngest son of William and Elizabeth Jones, died June 
28th, 1828, In the 27th year of his age. Also of Alice, eldest daughter of 
William and Elizabeth Jones, who died March 7th, 1844, aged 50." 

"Sacred to the memory of John Jones, late of Plas-fynnon, who de- 
parted this life December 10th, 1853, aged 61 years." 



"In memory of Edward Bennion, Surgeon, Cyrn-y-Bwch, who died 
July 31st, 1844, aged 87. Also Alice Bennion, wife of the above 
Edward Bennion, who died July 16th, 1838, aged 70." 

"In memory of Edward Bennion (senior), Surgeon, who died February 
27th, 1788, aged 69. Also Elizabeth Batten and Elizabeth 
Roberts, who died in their infancy." 



" Margaret Cartwright, wife of Robert Cartwright, Surgeon, died 
June 28th, 1807, aged 29 years. Robert Cartwright, died July 17th, 
1822, aged 51 years." 



"Sacred to the memory of George Dorset Owen, late of this Town, 
who departed this life November the 3rd, 1839, aged 52." 



"Sacred to the memory of Edward Powell, late of Preesgwyn, in 
this County, and of the Excise Office in the City of London, second son of 
Edward Powell, by Sarah his wife, who departed this life January 6th, 
1825, and was interred the 12th of the same month, at St. Dunstan's 
Church, Mile End, Old Town, Middlesex, aged 68 years. Underneath rest 
the mortal remains of John Powell, late of Preesgwyn, youngest son of 
the above Edward and Sarah Powell, who departed this life November 24th, 
1825, aged 63 years." 
146 



MONUMENTS IN THE NEW CHURCH-YARD. 

" In a vault beneath this stone are deposited the mortal remains of Mary* 
the beloved and affectionate wife of Mr. William Faulder, late of this town, 
and mother of Margaret, wife of John Richard Powell, of Preesgwyn, who 
died February 17th, 1847, in the 73rd year of her age*" 



"Underneath lie the remains of Margaret Jennings, eldest daughter 
of Thomas and Margaret Jennings, of Penylan. She died May 12th, 1826, 
aged 59. Also the remains of Mary, youngest daughter of Thomas and 
Margaret Jennings, who died 31st of March, 1834, aged 61. Also there- 
mains of Edward, the youngest son of Thomas and Margaret Jennings, 
who died November 27th, 1835, aged 61. Also the remains of Thomas, 
eldest son of Thomas and Margaret Jennings, who died July 26th, 1844, 
aged 74. Underneath are deposited the remains of Thomas Jennings, 
of Penylan. He died 17th of December, 1805, aged 79. Also the remains 
of Margaret Jennings, relict of Thomas Jennings, of Penylan. She 
died the 31st of March, 1811, aged 79. Jane, the wife of John 
Wolfe, of Penylan, departed this life July 19th, 1695. Sinah, the second 
wife of John Wolfe, of Penylan, departed this life October 25th, 1736, aged 
77. Mary Jennings, of Penylan, (widow), departed this life November 
11th, 1756, aged 51. John Wolfe, of Penylan, departed this life July 
3rd, 1739, aged 80." . 



"Edward Gough, departed this life March 14th, 1803." 

" Also to the memory of Catherine Williams, who departed this 

life April 28 th, 1840, aged 97." 

"Also to the memory of Maria, relict of the above-named Edward 

Gough, who departed this life February 25th, 1853, aged 82." 



"Sacred to the memory of Thomas Potter Macqueen, late of Ridge- 
mount, Bedfordshire, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Beds. Yeomanry Cavalry, 
and M.P. for that County, born May 28th, 1792, died March 31st, 1854." 

3n tfje Nefo Cfjurc^garX 

"In memory of Charlotte Elizabeth Urwick, eldest daughter of 
Thomas and Frances Penson, and wife of William Urwick, of Ludlow. 
She died of consumption, at Torquay, on the 26th of November, 1846, aged 
30 years. In this dispensation of the Divine will, her parents have to 
sorrow for a most dear and dutiful daughter, and her husband to bemoan 
the loss of an affectionate wife. Her remains, with those of her only child, 
Thomas Penson Urwick, who died on the 27th of May, 1847, aged 13 
months, are deposited beneath." 



Near this place are deposited the remains of Hannah Penson, who 
147 



TRINITY CHURCH. 

died an infant, on the 28th of September, 1823. And underneath lie the 
remains of Sarah Maria Penson, who died on the 25th of April, 1829, 
aged 8 years. Also the remains of Henry Penson, who died on the 1st 
of May, 1832, aged 12 years; children of Thomas and Frances Penson. 

' Happy children, early blest, 

Rest, in peaceful slumbers rest.'" 



"Sacred to the memory of Jane, daughter of Edmund Faunce, Esq., 
late Lieutenant-Colonel of the 4th or King's own regiment, and Bridget his 
wife, who died April the 12th, 1826, aged 16. Also sacred to the memory 
of the above-named Edward Faunce, Esq., of St. Mary's Hall, county 
of Kent, late Lieutenant- Colon el in the 4th or King's own regiment. He 
died September 29th, 1838, aged 72." 



"Sacred to the memory of John William Bourke, obiit August 21st, 
1823, setat. suae 47. Sacred to the memory of Anne, relict of the Rev. 
John William Bourke, who died October 22nd, 1833, aged 73." 

TRINITY CHURCH. 

The great want of accommodation for the poor in the 
Parish Church led to the building of another church, in the 
outskirts of the town, in the year 1835. This church, dedi- 
cated to the Holy Trinity, was consecrated by the Bishop 




TRINITY CHURCH. 



of St. Asaph (Dr. Carey) in 1837, and a district, consisting 
of the wards of Leg-Street and Beatrice Street, in the town, 



148 



TREFONEN CHURCH. 

and of the townships of Middleton, Hisland, Wootton, Aston, 
and Maesbury, has since been formed for it by the Church 
Commissioners. The population of the district so assigned 
was estimated at the time at about 2,300. The church con- 
tains accommodation for 700 persons, for about 400 of whom 
there are free sittings. The ornamental parts of the interior 
were executed at the expense of the Rev. John Parker, of 
Sweeney Hall, Vicar of Llanyblodwel. The Viscount 
Dungannon presented a handsome bible and prayer book, and 
the communion services, for the use of the church. The 
communion plate w r as given by the late Earl of Powis. 
T. L. Longueville, Esq., has also been a most liberal contri- 
butor to the church, both in presenting an organ, and in 
subscribing largely to the original structure, and to the sub- 
sequent improvements. A school-room at Maesbury, with a 
house for the master, was built some years since in this 
district, and subsequently licensed for the performance of 
worship by the Bishop of St. Asaph, and which is served 
gratuitously by the Incumbent of Trinity Church. It is much 
to be desired that a chapel-of-ease were erected in this part 
of the parish. Trinity Church is now altogether separated 
from the living of Oswestry, the Vicar of Oswestry for the 
time being appointing the Incumbent. The present Incum- 
bent is the Rev. Frederick Cashel, M. A. 

TREFONEN CHURCH. 

To meet the wants of the Welsh population of the parish, 
a church was built in the township of Trefonen, and conse- 
crated in the year 1821 ; and in 1842 a district was assigned 
to it, by an Order in Council bearing date August 27th, con- 
sisting of the three townships of Trefonen, Treflach, and 
Treferclawdd. In 1851 this district contained 319 houses, 
and 1233 inhabitants — viz., 589 males and 644 females. 

Trefonen Church, which is capable of containing about 500 
persons, was built on a piece of land given for that purpose 
149 



KHYDYCROESAU CHURCH. 

by the late Sir W. W. Wynn, father of the present Baronet, 
It was originally intended that the service of this church 
should be wholly in Welsh ; but, owing to the increase and 
prevalence of the English language, that intention was not 
persevered in, and the service has for some years past been 
performed in Welsh and English alternately. A substantial 
school-room, with a house for the Master, was erected in the 
year 1825, upon a portion of the glebe given for that purpose, 
with the sanction of the Bishop, by the late Incumbent, the 
Rev. Edward Jones, and which has been of great advantage 
to the district. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the 
patronage of the Earl of Powis. The present Incumbent is 
the Rev. D. Lloyd. 

Trefonen abounds in mineral wealth. Coal was raised in 
considerable abundance some years since in the adjoining 
township of Treferclawdd, but the pits there are now ex- 
hausted. It is still worked, however, in the township of 
Treflach, where there are also valuable and extensive quarries 
of lime. A mine was. opened some years since in the 
Moelydd, which produces lead and calamine. 

RHYDYCROESAU CHURCH. 

In addition to the above means of providing church accom- 
modation to the inhabitants of the parish, an additional 
advantage has been gained by annexing the two Welsh 
townships of Pentregaer and Cynynion to the new church at 
Rhydycroesau. This church is situated on the high road to 
Llansilin, about three and a half miles from the town of 
Oswestry. It owes its foundation to the Rev. G. N. K, Lloyd, 
late Rector of Selattyn, who contributed liberally himself, 
and, with the co-operation of the first and present Incumbent, 
the Rev. Robert Williams, M. A., raised a sufficient fund, by 
voluntary contributions, to complete the church and erect a 
glebe-house. The church was consecrated August 2nd, 1838, 
by the Bishop of St. Asaph, and the glebe-house was built 
150 



LIST OF VICARS. 

in 1S40. It is a Consolidated District Church, licensed for 
all parochial purposes ; and has a legally-assigned district, 
consisting of the townships of Cynynion and Pentregaer, in 
the parish of Oswestry ; a detached portion of the parish of 
Llanyblodwel, called Cefnymaes ; with portions of the 
parishes of Llansilin and Selattyn. A very neat Gothic 
building has also been erected by the present Incumbent, 
aided by voluntary contributions, and opened as a National 
School in January, 1850. The sites for the school and play- 
ground, as well as for the church and church-yard, are the 
munificent gifts of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Bart. The 
portion of the population of the parish of Oswestry thus 
transferred to the district of Rhydycroesau is about 200. 

Nothing is now needed to make the ecclesiastical arrange- 
ments of the parish of Oswestry complete but the building 
of a chapel-of-ease at Maesbury, and the annexing a district 
to Morton Chapel; the latter of which objects will no doubt 
be effected whenever anew Incumbent shall be appointed to it. 

Oswestry is a discharged Vicarage, in the gift of the Earl 
of Powis. The present Incumbent is the Rev. Thomas 
Salwey, B. D. 

LIST OF VICARS. 
David Owain . . . . . . . . . . instituted 1534 

Rector of Whittington 1532, and Prebendary of Myfod 1534. 
Peter Brereton , . .. .. .. .. .. .. 1537 

John Price, L. L. B 1552 

He became Prebendary of Myfod 1558, and Chancellor 1559. 

William Owen 1583 

William Horton 1587 

Thomas Somerfield •• 1588 

John Bagshaw .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1591 

Rector of Whittington 1588. 
William Morgan . . . . 1599 

Vicar of Pool 1575. 

Richard Pigot 1602 

Nathaniel Tattersall (deprived).. .. 1603 

Richard Muckleston 1612 

151 



THE OLD CHAPEL. 

John Kyffin, B. D 1625 

Humphrey Wynne .. .. .. .. .. .. 1639 

Rowland Nevet, A. M 

Ejected by the Act of Uniformity. 

Richard Edwards, 1664 

Richard Jones ' .. .. 1680 

Samuel Wilson, A. M 1690 

Archibald Guild .. .. 1694 

Thomas Jones .. .. 1697 

Thomas Owen 1707 

Edward Parry 1713 

Thomas Trevor, A. M., Bodynfol 1736 

Turner Edwards, L. L. B., Talgarth 1784 

Vicar of Llansilin. 

Daniel Griffiths 1803 

J. W. Bourke, A. M 1807 

Vicar of St. Martins 1803. 

Thomas Salwey, B. D. t . . . , . . . December, 1823 



The present esteemed Vicar of Oswestry, suffering much 
from illness, has long been unable to attend personally to the 
duties of his office. When however occasion has offered to 
promote, by his counsel and aid, any measure of benevolence 
in the Parish, he has been active hi the good work. There 
are two Curates at present attached to the Parish Church — • 
the Rev. Llewelyn Wynne Jones, and the Rev. George 
Cuthbert, both of whom are zealous and faithful in their 
ministerial labours, and have acquired the regard and affection 
of the numerous congregations to whom they dispense the 
Bread of Life. 

©feaenttng Paces of aEor^jtp. 

THE OLD CHAPEL. 

The Congregational. Church of Protestant Dissenters now 

assembling in the Old Chapel, Arthur-Street, was formed in 

the township of Sweeney, in the year 1662, and the Rev. 

Kowland Nevet, A, M„ ejected from the vicarage of Oswestry 

152 



THE OLD CHAPEL. 

by the Act of Uniformity, was its first pastor. Mr. Nevet 
laboured in the ministry for thirty years; seventeen as a 
clergyman of the established church, and thirteen as a dis- 
senting preacher. Calamy, in his "Nonconformists' Memorial" 
mentions to his honour, that when the Plague prevailed at 
Oswestry, he still continued with his people, extending to 
them both temporal and spiritual aid. He died December 
8th, 1675, and was succeeded by the Rev. James Owen, a 
distinguished minister, who bore part, as we have already 
mentioned, in a theological controversy which took place in 
the Oswestry Guildhall, in the year 1681, in the presence of 
Bishop Lloyd. He was appointed pastor at Sweeney in 
November, 1676, the duties of which office he faithfully dis- 
charged, as well as those of chaplain to Mrs. Baker, a pious 
lady residing on her own estate at Sweeney Hall. Vestiges 
of the ancient burial-ground of the first Nonconformists are 
yet to be seen near the site of the old mansion at Sweeney, 
enclosed within iron railings by the late T. N. Parker, Esq. 
The following inscriptions are still legible : — 

"Here lieth Mrs. Abigail Chetwood, daughter to Sir Richard 
Chetwood, who died the 1st May, 1658." 

"Thomas Baker, Esq., deceased March 19, aged 68, A. D. 1675." 

The above Thomas Baker served the office of High Sheriff 
of the county, in 1649, the first year of Cromwell's Protec- 
torate; and in the parliament of 1653 he was summoned by 
Cromwell, with John Brown, of Little Ness, as a knight of 
the shire. In 1692 the place of worship was removed, for 
convenience, from Sweeney into the town of Oswestry. The 
room fitted up for religious worship was part of a house 
in Willow- Street, now known as the Butchers' Arms. Here 
Mr. Owen laboured for eight years, and then removed to 
Shrewsbury, where he was soon placed at the head of the 
dissenting theological seminary. He was succeeded by the Rev. 
Jenkyn Evans, who died in 1709, and his funeral sermon was 
preached by the celebrated Mathew Henry. The Rev. Joseph 
153 



THE OLD CHAPEL. 

Yenables was the next minister appointed; and after Mr. 
Venables came the Rev. Thomas Morgan. During his 
ministry the site on which the present chapel and chapel- 
house stand was purchased, with an old maltkiln upon it, for 
£38. The sum of £200 having been given for the purpose 
by Mrs. Sarah Lloyd, a chapel was erected, and opened for 
public worship in July, 1750. The immediate successors of 
Mr. Morgan were Mr. Davies and Mr. Dewhurst ; the latter 
became Socinian or Arian in his doctrines, and soon left. In 
September, 1777, the Rev. Dr. Edward Williams removed 
from Ross to Oswestry. In 1783 he enlarged the chapel ; and 
the Collegiate Institution at Abergavenny having been removed 
to Oswestry, Dr. Williams became its Tutor, and for the 
accommodation of the students he enlarged the chapel-house 
also. In 1791 he removed to Carr's-Lane, Birmingham; 
afterwards to Rotherham College, of which he was appointed 
Principal, and there he died. The Rev. John Whitridge, who 
had been minister of the Congregational Church at Newcastle- 
under-Lyme for nine years, succeeded Dr. Williams, and he 
remained the kind and benevolent pastor of his congregation, 
which greatly increased under his ministry, till the period 
of his death, October 11th, 1826. On the west side of 
the chapel, and over the spot where the pulpit then stood, 
in which for thirty-five years he had dealt out the bread of 
life to his congregation, a plain marble tablet was erected, 
bearing the following inscription : — 

"In Memory of the Rev. John Whitridge, this Tablet is affection- 
ately inscribed by the Church over whom for 35 years he was 
the devoted Pastor, An example — in word — in conversation — in 
charity — in spirit — in faith — in purity. ' Whose praise is in the 
Gospel throughout all the Churches.' He was born 23rd March, 
1760. Died 11th October, 1826. His body reposes in a tomb 
beneath, waiting the spirit's union at the resurrection of the just." 

Dr. Jenkyn, of Wem, succeeded to the pastoral office, and 
afterwards the Rev. W. Reeve. The Rev. J. Davies was 
followed by the present able pastor, the Rev. James Matheson 
154 



THE BAPTIST CHAPEL. 



(son of the Rev. Dr. Matheson, the indefatigable Secretary 
of the Home Missionary Society), who entered upon his 
ministerial labours in September, 1851, and who, by his dis- 
tinguished talents, great urbanity, and ardent zeal for the 
spiritual prosperity of his people, has succeeded in greatly 
increasing the number of his hearers, and in commending 
himself to the good opinion of all classes of his fellow- 
townsmen. 

The present Chapel (of which we give a sketch) was built 




THE OLD CHAPEL. 



during the ministry of the Rev. Dr. Jenkyn. The old 
Chapel having become too small for the increased number of 
hearers, it was pulled down, with the exception of part of 
one wall, and the present one was erected. It is a substantial 
and commodious place of worship, and capable of containing, 
when closely seated, about eight hundred persons. 

THE BAPTIST CHAPEL, 

Situated on the English Walls (opposite the Cattle Market), 
was erected by voluntary contributions, in the year 1805, 
and enlarged in 1818. It contains two galleries, and will 
accommodate between 300 and 400 persons. The Baptist 
Church in Oswestry was formed September 6th, 1806, and 
then consisted of a few members dismissed from the Baptist 
155 



WESLEYAN-METHODIST AND ZION CHAPELS. 

Church, at Shrewsbury, at that time under the pastoral care 
of the late Rev. John Palmer, who, with other Baptist 
Ministers, preached the Gospel in Oswestry and its neigh- 
bourhood some time prior to the erection of the Chapel. 
The Rev. William Pain was the first Pastor, and was suc- 
ceeded by the Rev. Thomas Cooke, in the year 1817, who, 
for twenty years, honourably sustained the office to whicb he 
had been chosen. In 1838 the Rev. Robert Clarke (late of 
Bridgnorth) became the Pastor ; and his successor was the 
late Rev. H. G. Grainger, who settled in Oswestry, in the 
year 1846. The present Pastor, the Rev. David Crumpton, 
took the oversight of the Church in the year 1852. There is 
a Sabbath-School connected with this congregation. The 
Chapel is free from debt, as is also the Baptist Chapel at 
Sweeney, erected by this Church and congregation in the 
year 1831. 

THE WESLEYAN-METHODIST CHAPEL 

Is a plain brick building, situated in the Coney Green, and 
was erected in the year 1813. The interior is without galleries, 
but will accommodate on the ground floor about 500 persons. 
The Wesleyan body in Oswestry is included in the Wrexham 
Circuit, the present Superintendent being the Rev. Samuel 
Atkinson. 

ZION CHAPEL. 

Throughout the Principality the Calvinistic Methodists are 
the most numerous body of dissenters, and their annual 
meetings, or associations, are seasons of much interest and 
excitement. In 1814 a small chapel was erected on the 
Welsh Walls for the accommodation of persons of this persua- 
sion resident in Oswestry, and this was occupied as a place 
of religious worship until 1836, when the great increase of the 
congregation rendered the erection of a larger chapel necessary. 
Accordingly the present building was commenced in Gatacre 
Place, and opened for public worship on the 6th of July, 1836. 
156 



PRIMITIVE METHODIST AND OTHER CHAPELS. 

It is a substantial stone structure, of rather imposing 
appearance, and affords accommodation for upwards of 500 
persons. 

THE PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHAPEL. 

The first chapel erected by this body was on the site of the 
Bath in Upper Willow Street, and was opened in 1825. So 
rapid has been the increase of the members of this denomination, 
that from the summer of 1825, when their first travelling 
preacher visited Oswestry, to the present time, they have 
built in this circuit no fewer than sixteen chapels ; and the 
number of preachers on their quarterly plan amounts to 120. 
Their place of worship in Willow Street having become in- 
capable of accommodating their increasing numbers, the present 
chapel and chapel-house were erected in 1840, in Castle 
Street. It is a neat and convenient building, and will seat 
about 450 persons. . The Superintendent is the Rev. Thomas 
Parr. 

BETHESDA CHAPEL 

Is a small neat building in Castle Street, erected in the year 
1844, for the use of the Welsh Congregationalists, or Inde- 
pendents. The Rev. Robert Thomas is the present Minister. 

THE INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHAPEL 

Stands below the Horse-Market, and was built in 1848 by a 
body of seceders from the Primitive Methodists. It is a plain 
brick building, and capable of seating about 300 persons. 



Besides the above, there is a small but highly-respectable 
body of Christians who hold their meetings in the Assembly 
Room at Osburn's Hotel, under the ministry of the Rev. J. 
Stewart ; and also a congregation of Welsh Wesleyan-Method- 
ists, who assemble in a school-room at Black Gate. 
157 



IHtmictpl atttr dEibil ffiobemmmi 

The Corporation of Oswestry is of great antiquity. Its 
civic honours, primitively, flowed from its Barons or Lords, 
who, exercising themselves the power of petty sovereigns, 
appointed Bailiffs and other officers to superintend the civic 
affairs of the borough. Its first assumption of civic digni- 
ties appears to have been in the reign of Henry II., when 
William, Earl of Arundel, granted to the town a short 
charter (called by the Welsh " Siarter Cwtta"), denominated 
also a Charter of Protection. A clause in this ancient 
document sets forth that " I (the Earl of Arundel) have re- 
ceived in Protection my Burgesses of Blanc-Minster" 
(Oswestry). Richard de Chambre was Constable at this 
period. Here was subsidiary power given to the inhabitants 
of Oswestry, for the government of the town ; but in the 
reign of Richard II., August 14th, 1399, that monarch granted 
to Oswestry its first royal charter, incorporating the Bur- 
gesses by the name and title of " The Bailiffs and Burgesses 
of Oswestry, infra Palatinatum Cesirice, in marchia inter 
Angliam et Walliam." In 1407, as heretofore noticed, 
Thomas, Earl of Arundel, granted a comprehensive and 
valuable charter, showing that still the exercise of power, 
in his lordship or barony, for the good government of 
the burgesses, &c, was fully recognized by the crown. 

The rights and privileges granted by Richard II. seem to 
have been strictly guarded and maintained by the inhabitants 
down to the reign of Elizabeth, when they were confirmed 
by that sovereign. It would appear, however, that subse- 
quently " divers doubts and ambiguities" arose concerning 
the ancient liberties, franchises, &c, of the borough, and in 
the reign of James I., 1616, the king granted a charter to 
the town, extending its liberties and privileges, and confirm- 
ing the Bailiffs, Burgesses, &c, as a body corporate, by the 
158 



SIR JOHN TREVOR. 

name of " The Bailiff and Burgesses of Oswestry, in the 
countie of Salop." The charter of Charles II., granted 
January 13th, 1673, to " the ancient borough and corporation 
of Oswestry, alias Oswaldstrey, in the county of Salop,'* 
enacted " That they be incorporated by the name of the 
Mayor, Aldermen, Common-Councilmen and Burgesses of 
Oswestry." This charter, it will be seen, was the instrument 
which first called into existence the offices of Mayor, Alder- 
men, Common-Councilmen, and Recorder. That charter 
was immediately acted upon, and Mr. Richard Pope was 
elected the first Mayor of Oswestry. Sir John Trevor, 
Knight (afterwards speaker of the House of Commons, and 
Master of the Rolls), Morgan Wynne, Esq., Edward Owen, 
Richard Edwards, Richard Lloyd, the before-mentioned 
Richard Pope, gentleman ; Gabriel Edwards, woollen- 
draper ; Hugh Price, woollen-draper ; John Jones, mercer ;• 
Richard Jones, John Blodwell, gentlemen ; and John Lloyd, 
mercer, were chosen as the first Aldermen. Richard Price, 
brewer, Richard Jones, mercer, John Glover, tanner, Richard 
Jones, glover, Edward Evans, apothecary, John Jones, 
glover, John Muckleston, shoemaker, Thomas Edwards, gen- 
tleman, Thomas Edwards, baker, Nathaniel Jones, brewer, 
Hugh Edwards, shoemaker, Timothy George, mercer, Thomas 
Vaughan, chandler, William Price, butcher, and Thomas 
Felton, brazier, were the first Common-Councilmen. Morgan 
W r ynne, Esq., was the first Recorder of the town, and John 
Worral, Esq., first Common Clerk of the Borough, and 
Clerk of the Court. It may be mentioned as a fact worth 
knowing, that Sir John Trevor was the second Mayor of 
Oswestry, under the charter of Charles II. Sir John was 
an eminent man, and his history, connected as he was with 
the borough of Oswestry, is worthy of brief record in these 
pages. He was the second son of John Trevor, Esq., of 
Brynkinalt, in the county of Denbigh, by an aunt of Sir 
George Jeffreys. He was born about the year 1637, and it 
is supposed never received educational advantages beyond 
159 



SIR JOHN TREVOR. 

those furnished by a village school. He was sent to London 
to his uncle, Arthur Trevor, a leading barrister, who em- 
ployed him as his clerk in his chambers in the Inner Temple. 
The Rev. Robert Williams, in his careful and elaborate 
"Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Welshmen," says of 
him, that " on his first arrival he displayed very lively parts, 
although his manners were rather uncouth, and he could not 
speak a sentence of correct English. His diligence, how- 
ever, was so great, that being entered a student of the Inner 
Temple, he rendered himself well versed in all branches 
of his profession, and soon acquired extensive practice. 
Through the interest of his cousin, Sir George Jeffreys, he 
was made a king's counsel, in 1678, and he obtained a seat 
in the House of Commons. Here he acquired considerable 
influence among the members, and such was his reputation 
as a high prerogative lawyer, that at the meeting of James 
IPs. parliament in May, 1685, he was elected Speaker. In 
October of the same year he was appointed Master of the 
Rolls, and in July, 1688, he was sworn a Privy Councillor. 
On the accession of William and Mary, Sir John Trevor was 
dismissed from the office of Master of the Rolls. In the 
Convention Parliament he sat for Reraldstone, and opposed 
by every means in his power the measures of the Govern- 
ment. In the next Parliament, called in 1690, he made his 
peace with the Court, and was unanimously elected Speaker. 
In May, 1691, he was made first Lord Commissioner of the 
Great Seal, which office he held until May 2nd, 1693, and in 
January, 1693 he was restored to his office of Master of the 
Rolls. Such was his talent for managing party, and of re- 
commending himself to the Government by his bold and 
dexterous measures, that had it not been for his great indis- 
cretion, he would probably have reached the great object of 
his ambition, which was to become Lord Chancellor, and to 
be created a peer. In 1695 a violent outcry was raised 
against bribery, and a committee was appointed by the 
House of Commons, to inquire into the charges, which were 
160 



SIR JOHN TREVOR. 

made against members, and it reported that Sir John Trevor 
had received a bribe of a thousand guineas for furthering a 
bill called the " Orphan's Bill," promoted by the City of 
London. Accordingly, March 12th, 1695, he was subjected 
to the unparalleled humiliation of putting the resolution from 
the chair, and declaring himself guilty. He then resigned 
the chair, and was expelled from the House. Receiving 
money for voting in parliament was in those days so common, 
that his offence was not regarded in a very serious light, and 
he was permitted to retain his high judicial office of Master 
of the Rolls, for the long period of twenty-two years after 
his expulsion from the House of Commons. By the death 
of his elder brother he succeeded to the paternal estates of 
Brynkinalt, which, with large possessions of his own acqui- 
sition, have descended through his only daughter Anne to 
the present Viscount Dungannon. Sir John Trevor died 
May 20th, 1717, being nearly eighty years of age, at his house 
in Chancery Lane, and was buried in the Rolls Chapel." 
Yorke, in his " Royal Tribes of JFales," relates a droll 
anecdote of Sir' John, which is worthy of transplantation. 
" Among his other virtues," says Yorke, " Trevor was an 
economist. He had dined by himself one day at the Rolls, 
and was drinking his wine quietly, when his cousin Roderic 
Lloyd was unexpectedly introduced to him from a side door. 
'You rascal,' said Trevor to his servant, 'and you have 
brought my cousin Roderic Lloyd, Esquire, Prothonotary of 
North Wales, Marshal to Baron Price, and so forth, and so 
forth, up my back stairs. Take my cousin Roderic Lloyd, 
Esquire, Prothonotary of North Wales, Marshal to Baron 
Price, and so forth, and so forth ; take him instantly back, 
down my back stairs, and bring him up my front stairs. 1 
Roderic in vain remonstrated, and whilst he was conveyed 
down one, and up the other stairs, his Honor removed the 
bottle and glasses.' " Trevor had an obliquity of vision, or, 
in plainer words, he squinted abominably ! When he was 
expelled from the House of Commons for bribery, pasquin- 
161 M 



CHARTER OF CHARLES II. 

ades were issued against him, in one of which it was wittily 
said, that " Justice was blind, but Bribery only squinted." 

The charter of the 25 Charles II. (which was the govern- 
ing charter previous to the passing of the Municipal Reform 
Act,) granted to the Borough of Oswestry a general Court 
of Quarter Sessions, to be held before the Mayor, the 
Steward, and the Recorder, or any two of them, of whom 
the Mayor was to be one. On the passing of that Act the 
Government refused to renew the grant of a separate Quarter 
Sessions, although strong and unanimous petitions from the 
town were presented in favour of this privilege. In 1842, 
however, when the Ministry of Sir Robert Peel was in office, 
Sir James Graham being Secretary of State for the Home 
Department, the application was renewed, and was ultimately 
complied with. The grant is dated the 27th May, 1842, and 
under it John Robert Kenyon, Esq., was appointed Recorder. 
The first Quarter Sessions, under this grant, were held on 
July 8th in the same year. Mr. Kenyon has ably and 
impartially discharged the duties of Recorder since that 
period; and to his legal aeumen and zealous interest for the 
borough the inhabitants are indebted for many advantages. 

The Corporation are chosen from the respectable and 
enterprising classes of the borough, so that all men who by 
perseverance and success in trade or commerce, in the 
learned profession of the law, or medical science, or who move 
in the quieter and more elevated ranks of life, where the otium 
cum dignitate is to be seen in perfection, — if to be seen any- 
where, — are in the legitimate path to Magisterial authority 
and Aldermanic greatness. 

The Municipal Act came into operation in Oswestry in 
January, 1836. James Edwards, Esq., was elected Mayor of 
the borough in 1834, and held office, pursuant to the new 
Act, until January 1st, 1836, on which day John Croxon, 
Esq., was elected the first Mayor under the Municipal Reform 
162 



MUNICIPAL OFFICERS. 

Act, and continued in office till November 9th, 1836, when 
Francis Campbell, Esq., was elected as the second Mayor of 
the borough under the same Act. 

The Hon. Thomas Kenyon (second son of the celebrated 
Lord Kenyon, and father of the present Recorder of Oswestry) 
was appointed High Steward of the Borough in the year 
1823. Mr. Richard Jones Croxon (who had succeeded 
Mr. Lewis Jones to the Town-Clerkship in 1834) was 
appointed Town- Clerk under the Municipal Act, and has 
continued to perform the duties of that office to the present time, 
with great credit to himself and satisfaction to the town. 

Under the New Corporation Act the borough was divided 
into two Wards, viz., the East Ward, comprising 148 bur- 
gesses, and the West Ward, numbering 166 burgesses. 

The Corporation of Oswestry, for the year 1854-5, 
consists of the following gentlemen : — 

G. H. WILLIAMS, Mayor. 

Aldermen : 

Thomas Longueville LonguevIlle, 
Peploe Cartwright, Thomas Rogers, 

Thomas Hill, Edward Morris, 

Thomas Minshall. 

Councillors : 

William Hodges, Thomas Edwards, 

William Edwards, James Thomas Jones, 

Edward Wynne Thomas, William Isaac Bull, 

David Lloyd, William Morris, 

George Morrall Bickerton, Richard Kyrke Penson, 

William Hayward, John Lacon, 

Francis Roberts, John Minshall, 

George James Saunders, John Phillips, 
John Roberts. 

Town- Clerk : — R. J. Croxon. 
Clerk of the Peace: — Robert Simon. 
Coroner: — John Miles Hales. 
Treasurer: — George Cooper. 
163 



LIST OF MAYORS. 



1679 
1680 
1681 



We subjoin a full List of the Mayors of Oswestry, 
from the earliest period, with the names also of the entire 
body of other Corporate Officers, Aldermen, and Common- 
Councilmen, elected under the Municipal Reform Act : — 

1703 Roger Green 

1704 Thomas Powell, Park (se- 
cond time) 

1705 Robert Lloyd, Aston 

1706 John Davies 

1707 Edward Lloyd, Trenewydd 

1708 Thomas Tomkies 

1709 Thos. Kynaston, Maesbury 

1710 John Price (second time) 

1711 Richard Jones 

1712 John Skye (second time) 

1713 Roger Green (second time) 

1714 John Davies (second time) 

1715 Thomas Warter 

1716 George Edwards 

1717 Robert Lloyd, Aston (se- 
cond time) 

1718 Owen Hughes 

1719 Thomas Edwards 

1720 John Evans 

1721 Richard Payne 

1722 Richard Maurice 

1723 Nathaniel Price 

1724 Peter Povall 
Dying in his mayoralty, suc- 
ceeded by Owen Hughes 

1725 JohnKyffin 

1726 Richard Thomas 

1727 Edward Lloyd, Llwyny- 
maen 

1728 Watkin Williams Wynn 

1729 Charles Lloyd, Trenewydd 

1730 William Owen, Porkington 

1731 John Huxley 

1732 John Mytton, Halston 

1733 Nathaniel Kynaston 

1734 Richard Powell 

1735 Robert Williams 



1673 Richard Pope, first Mayor 

1674 Sir John Trevor, Master of 

the Rolls 

1675 Richard Edwards 

1676 Richard Lloyd, Ford 

1677 John Blodwell 

1678 John Lloyd 

Dying in his mayoralty, suc- 
ceeded by Edward Owen 
Richard Price 
John Glover 
Peter Griffiths 

1682 Humphrey Foulks 

1683 William Price 

Appointed instead of Thomas 
Edwards, who died before 
he was sworn 

1684 Hugh Jones 

1685 Phillip Ellis 

1686 Sir Robert Owen, Pork- 

ington 
Roger Edwards 
Morgan Powell 
Thomas Jones 
Thomas Powell, Park 
Thomas Pritchard 

1692 John Muckleston 

1693 John Price 

1694 David Lloyd 

1695 Richard Jones 

1696 Sir Robert Owen (second 

time) 
John Skye 
Nathaniel Edwards 
Peter Jones, Llanfyllin 
Francis Tomkies 
William Jones 
Humphrey Davenport, 

Hayes- Gate 
164 



1687 
1688 
1689 
1690 
1691 



1697 
1698 
1699 
1700 
1701 
170.2 



LIST OF MAYORS. 



1736 Robert Barkley 


1775 


William Griffiths 


1737 Thomas Jones 


1776 


Francis Chambre 


1738 John Burgess 


1777 


Joseph Richardson 


1739 Corbett Kynaston 


1778 


John Croxon 


Dying in his mayoralty, suc- 


1779 


Noel Hill, Shrewsbury 


ceeded by Thomas Tomkies 


1780 


Edward Brown 


1740 William Price 




Dying in his mayoralty, suc- 


1741 John Jones 




ceeded by Nathaniel Price 


1742 John Hughes 


1781 


Thomas Vernon 


1743 John Mort 


1782 


Edward Wynn Evans 
John Kynaston, Hardwick 


1744 Peter Williams 


1783 


1745 David Morris 


1784 


Richard Bickerton 


1746 Richard Lloyd 


1785 


Thomas Howell 


1747 Richd. Williams, Penbedw 


1786 


Richard Salisbury 


1748 Vincent Phipps 


1787 


Wm. Mostyn Owen, Wood- 


1749 Nathaniel Jones 




house 


1750 John Griffiths 


1788- 


Lewis Jones 


1751 John Williams 


1789 


John Gibbons 


1752 John Griffiths 


1790 


John Lovett 


1753 Edward Price 


1791 


John Probert 


1754 Thomas Jones 


1792 


John Mytton, Halston 


1755 John Jones 


1793 


Rev. Turner Edwards 


1756 Thomas Rathbone 


1794 Arthur Davies 


1757 Edward Evans 


1795 


Rev. John Robert Lloyd 


1758 John Basnett 


1796 


Owen Ormsby 


1759 Nathaniel Price 


1797 


Thomas Lovett 


1760 Edward Evans 


1798 


Robert Lloyd 


1761 Robert Lloyd 


1799 


John Jones 


1762 Richard Price 


1800 


Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart. 


1763 John Edwards 


1801 


Richard Croxon 


1764 Richard Jones 


1802 


Lawton Parry 


1765 John Gregory 


1803 


Richard Jebb 


1766 William Griffiths 


1804 


Thomas Skye 


1767 Richard Morrice 


1805 


Rev. James Donne 


1768 John Evans 


1806 


Robert Cartwright 


1769 John Lloyd 


1807 


Thomas Longueville Jones 


1770 Watkin Williams, Penbedw 


1808 


William Lloyd 


1771 John Mytton, Halston 


1809 


Robert Roberts 


1772 Robert Godolphin Owen, 


1810 


John Sheppard 


Porkington 




Dying in his mayoralty, suc- 


1773 E. Thornes 




ceeded by Thomas Hilditch 


1 774 Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, 


1811 


Edward Edmunds 


Bart., Wynnstay 


1812 John Croxon 


165 







ALDERMEN AND COMMON-COUNCILMEN. 



1813 Rev. Charles Arthur Albany 

Lloyd 

1814 Hon. Thomas Kenyon 

1815 Thomas Morris 

1816 S. Leach (R. Salisbury, 

Deputy) 

1817 Rev. George Lloyd, Selattyn 

(Mr. Cartwright, Deputy) 

1818 Thomas Netherton Parker 

1819 H. W. W. Wynn (Mr. 

Salisbury, Deputy) 

1820 W. Lovett (J. V. Jones, 

Deputy) 

1821 John Bonnor, Brynygwalia 

(Robert Roberts, Deputy) 

1822 Henry Pinson Tozer 

Aubrey 

1823 W. Ormsby Gore 

1824 John Mytton (Thomas 

Hilditch, Deputy) 

1825 John Jones (second time) 

1826 Rev. Turner Edwards 

1827 Roger Mercy Cockerill 

1828 Robert Morrall 

1829 Peploe Cartwright 

1830 Thomas Lovett 



1831 



1832 

1833 
1834 
1835 
1836 
1837 
1838 
1839 
1840 
1841 
1842 
1843 
1844 
1845 
1846 
1847 
1848 
1849 
1850 
1851 
1852 
1853 
1854 



Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart. 

(second time) (Dr. Donne, 

Deputy) 
Thomas Longueville 

Longueville 
John Jones, jun. 
James Edwards 
John Croxon 
Francis Campbell 
Charles Thomas Jones 
G. Dorset Owen 
Griffith Evans 
Thomas Penson 
John Hay ward 
W. Williams 
W. Williams (re-elected) 
W. Price 
Thomas Rogers 
John Miles Hales 
Thomas Hill 
John Jones 
Edward Morris 
Edward Morris (re-elected) 
Thomas Minshall 
William Hodges 

Thomas Edwards 
George Harvey Williams 



ALDERMEN AND COMMON-COUNCILMEN. 



ALDERMEN— 1835 



John Jones 
Richard Croxon 
Thomas Morris 



Peploe Cartwright 
T. L. Longueville 
John Jones, jun. 



COUNCILLORS— 1835: 



EAST WARD. 

John Croxon 
Francis Campbell 
George D. Owen 



WEST WARD. 

John Hayward 
Thomas Rogers 
Edward D. Bennion 



166 



ALDERMEN AND COMMON-COUNCILMEN. 



COUNCILLORS, 1835— (continued): 

EAST WARD. WEST WARD. 



Francis Lucas 
Griffith Evans 
James Howell 
Richard Bill 
William Price 
William Roberts 

COUNCILLORS- 

Thomas Penson 
John Miles Hales 
Robert Edwards 
John Croxon 
Francis Campbell 
George Dorset Owen 
Francis Lucas 
Griffith Evans 
James Howell 



1837 



Francis Lucas 
Griffith Evans 
James Howell 
Thomas Penson 
John Miles Hales 
Robert Edwards 
John Croxon 
Francis Campbell 
George Dorset Owen 



Charles Thomas Jones 
John Jones, jun. 
Charles Sabine 
William Williams 
James Williams 
Thomas Penson 

-1836: 
Edward Edwards (in the 

room of James Williams, 

deceased) 
William Williams 
John Tomkies 
John Hay ward 
Thomas Rogers 
Edward David Bennion 
Charles Thomas Jones 
John Jones, jun. 
Charles Sabine 

Charles Thomas Jones 
Thomas Jones Rogers 
John Davies 
Edward Edwards 
William Williams 
John Tomkies 
John Hayward 
Thomas Rogers 
Edward David Bennion 



ALDERMEN— Re-elected in 1838 : 

Peploe Cartwright, T. L. Longueville, and John Jones, jun. 

COUNCILLORS— 1838 : 



George Dorset Owen 
David Thomas 
William Smale 
Francis Lucas 
Griffith Evans 
James Howell 
Thomas Penson 
John Miles Hales 
Robert Edwards 
167 



John Hayward 
Thomas Rogers 
Nathaniel Minshall 
Charles Thomas Jones 
Thomas Jones Rogers 
John Davies 
Edward Edwards 
William Williams 
John Tomkies 



ALDERMEN AND COMMON-COUNCILMEN. 



COUNCILLORS— 1839: 



EAST WARD, 



Thomas Penson 
John Miles Hales 
Robert Edwards 
William Price (in the room 
ofG. D.Owen, deceased) 
David Thomas 
William Smale 
Francis Lucas 
Griffith Evans 
Richard Salter (in room of 
James Howell, deceased) 



1840 



Francis Lucas 
Griffith Evans 
Richard Salter 
Thomas Penson 
John Miles Hales 
Robert Edwards 
William Price 
David Thomas 
William Smale 



WEST WARD, 



ALDERMEN- 



Thomas Penson (in the 
room of John Croxon, 
who had left the borough) 



William Williams 
John Tomkies 
Edward Edwards 
John Hay ward 
Thomas Rogers 
Nathaniel Minshall 
Charles Thomas Jones 
Thomas Jones Rogers 
Richard Cross (in the room of 
John Davies, deceased) 



Richard Powell (in the room 
of Thomas Jones Rogers) 

Richard Cross 

Thomas Hughes (in the room 
of Charles Thomas Jones, 
appointed Alderman) 

John Tomkies 

William Williams 

Edward Edwards 

John Hay ward 

Thomas Rogers 

Nathaniel Minshall 

■1841: 

Charles Thomas Jones 
John Jones 



COUNCILLORS— 1841: 



John Miles Hales 
William Price 
David Thomas 
William Smale 
Francis Lucas 
Griffith Evans 
Richard Salter 
Robert Edwards 
Charles Osburn (in the 
room of Thomas Penson) 
168 



John Hay ward 
Thomas Rogers 
Nathaniel Minshall 
Richard Cross 
Thomas Hughes 
Richard Powell 
William Williams 
John Tomkies 
Edward Edwards 



ALDERMEN AND COMMON-COUNCILMEN. 



COUNCILLORS— 1842: 

WEST WARD. 

William Williams 



EAST WARD. 

John Miles Hales 
Robert Edwards 
William Price 
David Thomas 
Griffith Evans 
William Smale 
Richard Salter 
Charles Osburn 
Pryce Morris (in the room 
of Francis Lucas) 

Henry Hughes appointed Coroner June 20th, 1842. 

1843: 
Griffith Evans 
Richard Salter 
Charles Osburn 
John Miles Hales 
Thomas Hill (in the room 
ofR. Edwards, deceased) 
Pryce Morris 
William Price 
David Thomas 
William Smale 



John Tomkies 
Edward Edwards 
John Hayward 
Thomas Rogers 
Nathaniel Minshall 
Richard Cross 
Thomas Hughes 
Richard Powell 



Richard Cross 
Thomas Hughes 
Edward Williams 
William Williams 
John Tomkies 
Edward Edwards 
John Hayward 
Thomas Rogers 
Nathaniel Minshall 



ALDERMEN— Re-elected 
T. L. Longueville, Peploe Cartwrig 
COUNCILLORS 
John Broughall (in the 

room of David Thomas) 
William Smale 
Griffith Evans 
Richard Salter 
Charles Osburn 
John Miles Hales 
Thomas Hill 
Thomas Minshall (in the 

room of Pryce Morris) 



1845 



Thomas Hill 
John Miles Hales 
William Williams 
William Price 
169 



November, 1844 : 
ht, and John Jones, jun. 
—1844: 

Thomas Rogers 
John Hayward 
Nathaniel Minshall 
Thomas Savin (in the room 

of Richard Cross) 
John Jones (in the room of 

Thomas Hughes) 
Edward Williams 
William Williams 
John Tomkies 
Edward Edwards 



John Phillips 
Edward Edwards 
Charles Humphreys 
Thomas Rogers 



ALDERMEN AND COMMON-COUNCILMEN. 



COUNCILLORS, 1845— (continued): 



WEST WARD. 

John Hayward 
Nathaniel Minshall 
Thomas Savin 
Edward Williams 
John Jones 



EAST WARD. 

Edward Morris (in the room 
of John Broughall, who 
had left the borough) 
William Smale 
Griffith Evans 
Richard Salter 
Thomas Minshall 

1846: 
Thomas Edwards John Jones 

Thomas Minshall Edward Williams 

William Isaac Bull Edward Edwards 

William Williams James Weaver (in the room 

John Miles Hales of Charles Humphreys, de- 

Thomas Hill ceased) 

William Price John Phillips 

Edward Morris John Hayward 

William Smale Nathaniel Minshall 

Thomas Rogers 
Edw. Wynne Thomas (in the 
room of Mr. Savin, deceased) 
ALDERMEN— Elected November, 1847 : 
John Hayward, Thomas Penson, and William Williams. 
COUNCILLORS— 1847: 



Edward Morris 
William Price 
Jeremiah Jones Thomas 
John Lacon (in the room of 
W. Williams, Alderman) 



David Lloyd 
Nathaniel Minshall 
Thomas Rogers 



1848: 



Edward Roberts 

George Morrall Bickerton 

David Jameson 



John Lacon 
Thomas Hill 
William Hodges 

John Miles Hales appointed Coroner, and Robert Simon Clerk of 
the Peace, April 27th, 1848 (in the room of Henry Hughes, deceased). 

1849: 
Thomas Minshall 



William Isaac Bull 
Walter Edwards 



John Jones 
Edward Williams 
Edw. Wynne Thomas 



ALDERMEN — Elected November, 1850: 
T. L. Longueville, Peploe Cartwright, and Thomas Roger*. 
170 



ALDERMEN AND COMMON-COUNCILMEN. 



COUNCILLORS- 
east WARD. 
Edward Morris 
Jeremiah Jones Thomas 
William Edwards 



John Lacon 
William Roberts 
William Hodges 

William Isaac Bull 
Thomas Minshall 
Walter Edwards 



1851 



1852 



-1850: 

WEST WARD, 

Thomas Jones 
David Lloyd 
William Morris 

George Morrall Bickerton 
Thomas Edwards 
George Harvey Williams 

Jackson Salter 
Francis Roberts 
William Hay ward 



ALDERMEN — Elected November, 1853: 

Thomas Hill, John Jones, and Edward Morris, 

COUNCILLORS— 1853: 



Edw. Wynne Thomas 
William Edwards 
William Morris 

John Lacon 
William Roberts 
William Hodges 
Benjamin Churchill (in the 

room of Walter Edwards, 

resigned) 



1854 



James Thomas Jones 
David Lloyd 
William Morris 



Thomas Edwards 
George Morrall Bickerton 
George Harvey Williams 



[For the above List of Aldermen and Common-Councilmen, 
up to and including 1846, we are indebted to the Repre- 
sentative of a gentleman who filled the Civic Chair, and who 
for many years recorded the changes in the Municipal Body. 
The subsequent List is from the Corporation Poll Books.] 



Mptte 




OSWESTRY CASTLE. 

(ur readers will have already learnt that Oswestry, from 
Jggg an early period in the history of the nation, bore no un- 
distinguished part. Fixed in the midst of an arena of fierce 
and convulsive conflicts for many ages ; its early state of 
warlike defence, rendered so complete by the sagacious 
Edward I., and forming a powerful post on the Border 
Lands, the eyes of monarchs and their gallant nobles were 
frequently directed towards it for succour or defence. The 
Castle, in its primitive state, may have been a palace fit for 
regal splendour. The honour of erecting it is assigned, as we 
have previously mentioned, to Madog, descended from an illus- 
trious Welsh Prince, the strenuous ally of Henry II., in his 
Welsh wars, and whose sire was the constant confederate of 
Randel the Third, and of his son, Hugh Cyveiliog, the fourth 
Earl of Chester. Madog was a man of high distinction in 
his day, and, being Prince of Powys, of which division 
Oswestry formed a part, there is presumptive evidence that 
the Castle was built by him, as the Welsh historians main- 
tain, or very considerably enlarged or repaired. The 
English records fix its existence even before the Norman 
Conquest, and show that " Alan, a noble Norman," received it 
immediately from William the Conqueror, on his accession. 
" This Alan," adds Dugdale, the historian, " was the stock 
of the Fitz- Alans, Earls of Arundel ; a potent race that flour- 
ished (with fewer checks than are usual with greatness) for near 
five hundred t years." It may be necessary to mention here, 
to aid the reader as to dates, that Madog died a. d. 1159, 
and that the Norman Invasion occurred in 1066. If Dug- 
dale is to be relied upon, the Castle of Oswestry was built 
at a period anterior to the Conquest, but he makes no men- 
tion of Madog. He says, " There was a Castle at Oswaldster 
at the time of the Conquest ;" and Pennant, a good authority, 
adds to this note of Dugdale, " I think it very probable." The 
able Welsh tourist further remarks, " The artificial mount 
on which it was placed indicates it to have been earlier than 
172 






OSWESTRY CASTLE. 

the Norman era. The Britons and the Saxons gave their 
fortresses this species of elevation. The Normans built on 
the. firm and natural soil or rock, but often made use of these 
mounts, which they found to have been the site of a Saxon 

1 






castle. I believe this to have been the case with that in 
question. A Fitz-Alan repaired or re-built, and added to 
that which he met with here : a tower also (as is not unfre- 
quent) might receive the name of Madog, complimentary 
either to the son of Meredydd (Madog's father), or some 
other great man of the same title." We have collected all 
the authorities we could find on this vexed question ;- but the 
actual date of the building of the Castle, and the veritable 
party to whom the honour of founding it is due, are still 
among the undiscovered facts of ages past. 

There is still, however, a notable event connected with 
Oswestry Castle that gives to its history surpassing interest, 
and ranks it among the more remarkable military relics of the 
nation. If the pains-'taking researches of Chalmers, the his- 
torian of Scotland, are to be relied upon, one of the distin- 
guished occupants of Oswestry Castle was the founder of 
the Stewart royal family. The real origin of that race of 
sovereigns had long perplexed genealogists ; but the labours 
of Chalmers, who has minutely investigated all the written 
and printed records on the subject, have proved beyond fur- 
ther controversy that Walter, the son of Alan (the two first 
Norman possessors of Oswestry Castle), the son of Flaald, 
and the younger brother of William, the son of Alan, who 
was the progenitor of the famous house of Fitz-Alan, the 
Earl of Arundel, was the first of the Stewarts. Symon, 
and other Scotch historians, trace the Stewart family to a 
Thane of Lochabar. Lord Hailes disputed this and other 
opinions, treating them as fabulous, but it was reserved for 
Chalmers to establish and set at rest the long-contested ques- 
tion as to the origin of the Stewart race. Lord Hailes him- 
self acknowledges that Walter, who flourished under David 
the First of Scotland, and Malcolm the Fourth, was indeed 

the first Stewart of Scotland ; but he is unable to determine 
173 



i 






OSWESTRY CASTLE. 

where, and what was the commencement of this family. The 
subject is important to every native of our land ; but to the 
people of Oswestry it is of paramount interest, as it connects 
with the town, however remotely, the genealogy of our present 
beloved monarch, Queen Victoria. 

Chalmers' evidence on this subject is curious and inter- 
esting. He tells us that the great exploit of Walter, the 
son of Alan, was the founding of Paisley monastery, during 
the reign of Malcolm IV., by transplanting a colony of 
Cluniac monks from the monastery of Wenlock, in Shrop- 
shire. Such, then, he adds, was the connection of Walter 
the First Stewart with Wenlock, and with Isabel de Say, who 
married William, the brother of Walter. Alan, the son of 
Flaald, married the daughter of Gwarine, the famous Sheriff 
of Shropshire, soon after the Norman conquest ; and of this 
marriage William was the eldest son of Alan, and the un- 
doubted heir both of Alan and of Gwarine. Alan, the son of 
Flaald, a Norman, acquired the manor of Oswestry soon 
after the Conquest. Alan was undoubtedly a person of 
great consequence at the accession of Henry I. He was a 
frequent witness to the king's charters, with other eminent 
personages of that court. Mr. Chalmers, in his further inves- 
tigations, proves the fraternal connection of William, the son of 
Alan, by a transaction which had before been as new to 
history as it is singular in itself. It has already been shown 
that Oswestry was the original seat of Alan on the Welsh 
border. Clun was added to his family by the marriage of his 
son William, who built Clun Castle ; and John Fitz-Alan, 
Lord of Clun and Oswestry, by marrying Isabel, the second 
sister of William de Albany, the third Earl of Arundel, who 
died in 1196, became Earl of Arundel, and changed his resi- 
dence from Shropshire to Sussex. Now, Richard Fitz-Alan, 
Earl of Arundel, being with Edward III., during the year 
1335, and claiming to be Stewart of Scotland by hereditary 
right, sold his title and claim to the king for 1000 marks, 
which purchase he cautiously had confirmed to him by 
174 



OSWESTRY CASTLE. 

Edward Baliol ; but Richard Fitz-Alan had not any right to . 
the Stewartship of Scotland. Walter, who was the first 
purchaser of this hereditary office, was the younger brother 
of William, the son of Alan, the progenitor of Richard Fitz- 
Alan, the claimant ; and till all the descendants of the first 
purchaser had failed, the claim could not ascend to the 
common father of the two families. But Robert the Stewart, 
who was born of Margery Bruce, on the 28th March, 1315-16, 
and became King of Scots the 2nd February, 1370-1, 
under the entail of the crown, was then in possession of the 
hereditary office of Stewart, by lineal descent. Walter, the 
son of Alan, undoubtedly obtained from David I., and from 
Malcolm IV., great possessions, a high office, and extensive 
patronage, and it may be reasonably asked, by what influence 
he could acquire from two kings so much opulence, and 
such an office 1 David I. was a strenuous supporter of the 
claims of his niece, the Empress Maud, in her severe contest 
with Stephen. William, the brother of Walter, influenced 
by the Earl of Gloucester, the bastard son of Henry I., and 
other powerful partizans of his sister the Empress, seized 
Shrewsbury in September, 1139, and held it for her interest. 
He attended her, with King David, at the siege of Winchester, 
in 1441, where they were overpowered by the Londoners, 
and obliged to flee. Such then were the bonds of connection 
between David I. and the sons of Alan, who were also 
patronized by the Earl of Gloucester. It was probably on 
that occasion that Walter accompanied David into Scotland. 
William, the son of Alan, adhered steadily to the Empress, 
and was rewarded by Henry II. for his attachment. Thus 
Walter, the son of Alan, could not have had more powerful 
protectors, than the Earl of Gloucester with David I., and 
Henry II. with Malcolm the II. When Walter, by those 
influences, obtained grants of Renfrew with other lands, and 
founded the Monastery of Paisley for Cluniac Monks from 
Wenlock, he was followed by several persons from Shropshire, 
whom he enriched, and by whom he was supported. He 
175 



OSWESTRY CASTLE. 

married Eschina, of Moll, in Roxburghshire, by whom he had 
a son Alan, who succeeded him in his estates and office when 
he died, in 1177. Six descents carried this family, by lineal 
transmissions, to Robert the Stewart, whose office, as already 
stated, was purchased by Edward III., and who became King 
of Scots 1371 : Walter, the son of Alan, was followed by his 
brother Simon. Thus does Mr. Chalmers treat the history 
of the Stewarts, whose blood, he says, runs in a thousand 
channels. 

This historical subject has attracted the attention of a 
talented resident of Oswestry, whose taste and research, united 
with genius and poetic imagination, have already conferred 
upon the town no trivial honour. That gentleman has 
favoured us with a notice of the Castle Hill, which be- 
speaks the enthusiasm of the writer, and adds to the interest 
which all lovers of history must feel on a topic so closely 
connected with the present amiable Sovereign of the kingdom. 
It is only due to Mr. Sabine to state (for to him we are 
indebted for aid in endeavouring to elucidate a dark and 
hitherto uncertain portion of Border History) that he has 
shed light even upon the pains-taking researches of Chalmers, 
and done much towards establishing a fact which, as we now 
consider it to be " proven," cannot fail to confer upon Oswestry 
an historical importance of no common degree. 

Mr. Sabine's paper we have pleasure in quoting entire : — 
"There is nothing," he remarks, "in the appearance of 
this Hill very imposing or very remarkable. It is a some- 
what abrupt mound, with some rude fragmentary remains of 
the castle, with which it was formerly surmounted. It has 
long been a moot question whether this mound is natural, 
or whether it has been raised by artificial means. Its 
appearance would seem to indicate that it is the work of 
man ; but an examination of its geological composition, and 
a comparison of it with similar surrounding elevations, lead 
to the conclusion that it is the accumulated deposit of ages 
during a period in. which the district has probably been the 
176 



OSWESTRY CASTLE* 

area of obstructed and pent-up waters, which, having been set 
at liberty, have left exposed the present undulated portions of 
the district, of which this mound forms one of the most pro- 
minent. Its present abrupt character — abrupt as compared 
with some of the more shelving banks — is easily and obviously 
accounted for by manifold encroachments, and by the 
military necessity for making the Castle as inaccessible as 
possible to hostile attacks. But if there is nothing in the 
appearance of the Castle Hill of Oswestry that is remarkable* 
this cannot be. said of its history ; for if there can be one fact 
topographically of greater interest than another in the history 
of a kingdom* it is that which is connected with the origin of its 
reigning monarch. To say nothing, then* of the numerous 
battle scenes of which Oswestry Castle has been the witness, 
and of which, it might say with iEneas, ' Quorum pars magna 
fui,' a note of Sir Walter Scott's to the "Monastery" 
will be a sufficient warrant for saying that Oswestry, in 
point of historic interest, is second to no town in the united 
kingdom. ' The acute pen of Lord Hailes (says the author 
of Waverley), which, like the spear of Ithuriel, conjured up 
so many shadows from Scottish history, had dismissed among 
the rest those of Banquo and Fleance, the rejection of which 
fables left the illustrious family of Stewart without an 
ancestor, beyond Walter, the Son of Alan* The re- 
searches of our late learned Antiquary detected in this 
Walter the descendant of Alan, the son of Flaald, who 
obtained from William the Conqueror The Castle of 
Oswestry, in Shropshire ; and who was the father of an 
illustrious line of English nobles, by his first son, William* 
and by his second son, Walter, the progenitor of the royal 
family of Stewart.' Few will be bold enough, even if so 
disposed, to question the authority of such an antiquarian 
as Sir Walter Scott, especially in matters relating to his own 
country. Assuming* then, that Alan Fitz-Flaald is the stirp 
of the Stewart House, a genealogical table may not be 

uninteresting to the readers of this work :«* 
177 N 



GENEALOGICAL TABLE. 



ALAN. 



William Fitz-alan. 



Walter Fitz-alan. 



Progenitor of the Earls 

of Arundel, and Barons 

of Oswestry. 



Progenitor of the Royal 

House of Stewart. 

I 
Alan. 

I 
Alexander. 

I 
Walter. 

I 
Alexander. 

i 

John. 

I 



Walter — Margery Bruce. 
Robert 2nd, King of Scots. 

Robert 3rd. 

I 
James 1st. 

I 
James 2nd. 

James 3rd. 

James 4th. 

I 
James 5th. 

I 
Mary. 

James 6th of Scotland, 1st of England. 

Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia. 

Sophia, Electress of Hanover. 

I 

George 1st. 

I 
George 2nd. 

I 
George 3rd. 

Edward, Duke of Kent. 



Victoria. 



178 



OSWESTRY CASTLE* 

is That Sir Walter Scott is as indubitable an authority irf 
early English or Welsh History as in that of his own country 
may not be admitted by all. According to the Welsh records 
Oswestry belonged to Madog, Prince of Powys, who resided 
at Oswestry, and built the Castle there about the year 1140. 
His second wife, Maud Vernon, an English lady of noble 
birth, on the death of Madog, married William Fitz-Alan, 
Lord of Clun, who in right of his wife obtained the Town and 
Castle of Oswestry. This William was a descendant of Alan 
who (says the Welsh Historian) came over with William the 
Conqueror, and was the first of the Fitz-Alans that was 
Baron of Oswestry. Again, the English historians assign to 
Oswestry Castle a more ancient date than 1140. They 
inform us that it was in being before the Norman conquest ; 
and that Alan, a noble Norman, had the Town and Castle 
bestowed upon him by the Conqueror, soon after his accession. 
But whether Walter. the Steward was the grandson of Flaald, 
and of Welsh descent, or whether his father came over from 
Normandy with the Conqueror, it may be taken- as a fact that 
Walter, the son of Alan, the younger brother of William Fitz- 
Alan, went from Oswestry Castle, of which his father was Gov- 
ernor, into the service of David I., King of Scotland, as that 
monarch's Steward, and was the founder of the house of 
Stewart. The following extract from Chambers' Journal is 
concurrent in testimony with the main features of the above, 
and is fraught with additional interest, as it shows how 
greatly Scotland was indebted to the old Town of Oswestry 
for its progress in civilization :-— 

'During the troublous conflicts of Maud and Stephen, in 
their competition for the crown of England, Walter, the son of 
Alan, the son of Flaald, fled from the family seat at Oswestry, 
and settled in Scotland. David I. made him his Steward, and 
gave him lands to support the dignity of his office. By the 
charter we learn that these lands were those of " Passaleth 
(Paisley), Polloc, Talahee, Ketkert, le Drop, le Mutrene 
179 



OSWESTRY CASTLE. 

Egglesham, Louchwinnock, and Inverwick." These estates in 
Renfrewshire (then a portion of Lanarkshire) were confirmed 
by Malcolm IV. in 1157, when he made the office of Steward 
hereditary, and granted, in addition, various other estates in the 
same quarter. Besides these possessions, Walter acquired the 
western half of Kyle, in Ayrshire, which hence was called 
Kyle Stewart. At this period the country was in a semi- 
barbarous state ; but Walter the Stewart introduced new and 
civilized usages. He settled many of his military followers 
on his lauds, and, founding the Abbey of Paisley, introduced 
a body of instructed men, who taught the ancient people 
domestic arts and foreign manners. By the marriage of 
one of these Stewarts with Margery Bruce, Robert the 
Stewart was born, and became, 1370*1, King of Scots.' 

"The Hill which claims this unique and unquestionable 
honour, in defiance of all the various contradictory and ex- 
ploded fables which would give it to Scotland (for no spot 
in England seeks to withhold it from Oswestry), has been 
rescued from the destruction with which it has long been 
threatened, both by the encroachments of time and thought- 
less spoliation, having been purchased by several of the 
Inhabitants of Oswestry, and vested in James Thomas Jones f 
Esq«, as their Trustee, and is now planted as an Arboretum. 
The panoramic view from this Hill is one of the most beautiful 
scenic gems in the neighbourhood ; and when the shrubs 
which have been planted shall have overcome the obstacles 
to their luxuriant growth, arising from exposure to bleak 
winds, and a comparatively uncongenial soil, it will constitute 
an ornament to the Town of Oswestry, such as few localities 
can boast; and which, in addition to its historic interest, will 
render it a spot, of which the Inhabitants of the County of 
Salop, and of Oswestry especially, may rank among their 
most remarkable objects of attraction. While the Hill was 
being planted a small silver coin was found, which, on 
examination, proved to be of the reign of David I. of Scot- 
180 



OSWESTRY CASTLE. 

land. This, though not a direct link in the chain of proof of 
the title of Oswestry Castle to the honour it claims, and defies 
Scotland to dispute, is a remarkable corroborative incident, 
most valuable, as circumstantial evidence, in support of the 
claim. A stone has been placed on the Hill, with the following 
inscription:— 'A. D. MCXXXVIII., Walter, son of Alan, 
the progenitor of the Royal House of Stuart, left this, his 
ancestral castle, in the reign of Stephen, King of England, 
and of David I., King of Scots.'" 

The more recent history of the Castle may be given in a 
few words. In the sixth of Henry II., Guy le Strange, 
Sheriff of Shropshire, accounted in the exchequer for salaries 
paid out of the king's revenues to the wardens in the Castle 
of Blancminster (Oswestry), the inheritance of William Fitz- 
Alan, then lately deceased. In the fifteenth of John, the 
nephew (John) of .the Earl of Pembroke, guardian of the 
Marches of Wales, was made Governor of Blancminster. In 
Henry III., John Fitz-Alan, as heir to Hugh de Albany, 
Earl of Arundel, had upon the death of that Earl, assigned 
for his purpatry, the Castle of Arundel, and upon paying 
£1000 fine was admitted to the possession of Oswestry Castle. 
In the twenty-fourth of Henry III., on the death of John 
Fitz-Alan, John le Strange had a grant of the custody of 
the lands of John, his son (then a minor), with an allowance 
of 300 marks per annum, for guarding Blancminster and 
other places. In the first of Edward I., John de Oxinden 
had the custody of the Castle of Blancminster, upon the 
death of John, Earl of Arundel. In the third of Edward I., 
Bogo de Knovil was Sheriff of the county, and Keeper of the 
Castle of Blancminster. In the eighth of Edward I., Isabel, 
mother of Richard, Earl of Arundel, had the custody of the 
Castle of Blancminster, and also of the hundred of Oswaldster 
during the minority of her son ; but two years afterwards 
her brother, Edmund de Mortimer, supplanted her, and got 
the grant to himself. In the eighteenth of Edward I. x Adam 
181 



OSWESTRY CASTLE. 

de Montgomery died Governor of the Castle. In the twenty* 
seventh of Edward I., Peter Meuvesine de Berwicke, juxta 
Ahinton, died in the same office. In the twenty-seventh of 
Edward II., after the attainder of Edmund, Earl of Arundel, 
Roger Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore, had a grant of the Castle. 
In the twenty-first of Richard II., Richard, Earl of Arundel, 
being attainted or executed, the king seized upon his lands 
and manors, and granted them to William Scrope, Earl of 
Wiltshire. In the seventh of Henry IV., Thomas, son of the 
attainted Earl, after he was restored in blood, freed the bur- 
gesses from many impositions of the Constable of the Castle. 
Amongst the names of subsequent Governors of the Castle we 
find those of John Trevor, Vaughan, Jeffrey KyfFyn; and in the 
twenty-fifth of James I., Thomas, Earl of Suffolk, his wife, 
Lord Walden, Sir Arnold Herbert, and William Herbert, 
" grant to the Lady Craven, Sir William Whitmore, George 
Whitmore, and their heirs, the lordship, manor, and Castle of 
Oswestry." The state of the Castle in the Civil Wars has 
already been described. 

In a record of the Inquisition, 21 Richard II., 1398, 
preserved in the Tower of London, there is a curious in- 
ventory of articles contained in Oswestry Castle on the 
attainder of Richard, Earl of Arundel, taken by order of the 
King, The Jurors consisted of inhabitants of the town and 
district. The record states, that " the Castle, Vill, and Lord- 
ship of Oswaldestre, in the Marches of Wales, is worth yearly, 
with its customs and appurtenances, besides the fees of all 
the officers there, and besides all reprizes made there, one 
year with another, £252, 16s. 2d." * * * * 

" That the said Earl was seized as of fee of one messuage in 
the Vill of Oswaldestre, by his deed enfeoffed one John ap 
Wyllym, to have to him and his heirs for ever, worth yearly 
beyond reprizes, 6s. 8d. Also, that the said Earl was seized 
as of fee of the advowson of the free Chapel of St. Nicholas, 
-within the Castle of Oswaldestre, worth 46s. 8d. Also, that 
182 



OSWESTRY CASTLE. 

the said Earl of Arundel had within the Castle of Oswaldestre, 
on the 18th day of July last past, and afterwards, the follow- 
ing goods and chattels, that is to say, — in the Wardrobe there, 
5 yew bows, 4 elm bows, 20 sheaves of arrows, 6 cross-bows, 

5 lances, with 6 heads, 1 gun, 1 barrel of gunpowder, 200 
quirells, 3 pol-axes, 2 sparthes, 3 broken jacks, 3 pair of 
gauntlets, 3 pallets, 1 banderich for a cross-bow, 1 table, 1 
pair of stakes, 3 pair of fetters, 6 pair of iron handcuffs, with 
iron bolts, 1 coler, with 2 iron shakylls, 1 file, 1 hammer. 
In the Great Chamber, 1 cupboard, 2 tables, 4 forms. In 
the Middle Chamber, 3 chests, 2 forms, 1 table. In the 
High Chamber, 1 hand-mill, panel of a certain trefreget. In 
the Constable's Hall, 3 tables, four tressels, 3 forms, 1 bason, 
with a laver, 1 small chest. In the Buttery, 1 chest, broken 
at the top, 1 bucket, with an iron chain, 1 barrel for weapons, 
31 keys of different locks. In the Chapel, 1 vessel for the 
holy water, 1 missal, 1 gilt chalice, 2 linen towels, with a 
frontal, 2 surplices, 2 chessibles, with accompaniments, 1 
hand-mill for grinding corn. In the Kitchen, 1 stone mortar, 
with a pile of wood. In the Larder, 2 broken oxheads, with 

6 bushels of salt ; which said artillery, arms, goods and chat- 
tels, are put into the custody of Madog Lloid, the Deputy of 
Robert Legh, Chivaler Constable of the Castle aforesaid, for 
the defence of the same." After enumerating several other 
articles, the Inquisition record adds, " and in a certain house 
*n the Vill of Oswaldestre (the said Earl possessed) 601 fleeces 
of wool, weighing 2 sacks, and Jth of a sack, at per sack 
100s. ; 50 gallons of honey, at 7s. a gallon. Also the said 
Earl had on the 18th day of July aforesaid, and afterwards, 
in the said Castle, 1 white stallion, price £10 ; 1 race-horse, 
called Young Sorrell, price £13 6s. 8d. And in the Park of 
Oswaldestre Superior, 16 horse colts, 13 of which are 3 years 
old, and 3 of them 2 years old: price in the whole, £66 13s. 
4d. The record further adds, that the said " Earl had after 
the 18th of July, £720 in money, and that one Thomas 
Harlyng, late Receiver- General of the said Earl, took and 

183 



THE WALLS. 

carried away the same, whereof he is answerable to the King." 
A great number of articles, with monies, cattle, &c, are stated 
to have been taken away by various persons named, who are 
made answerable to the King for the same. — This document 
is curious, inasmuch as it throws some light upon the military 
weapons in use at the period, on the plain and scanty domestic 
articles in the Castle, and on the low value of farming stock, 
&c. The record presents no account of the Earl's apartments^ 
or those of his servants, or of the furniture there used. 
Probably all the valuable property which he possessed in the 
fortress was carried away and disposed of before the Earl was 
attainted. The entire record furnishes evidence of nothing 
polished or luxurious ; on the contrary, it is a catalogue of 
mere rudeness, discomfort, and barbarity ; giving no marks 
whatever of vice-regal grandeur or princely state. 

As an additional fact it is proper to mention, that the Bailey - 
Head was the original ballium, or quadrangle of the Castle ; 
that the mount in the Castle-field, known by the name of the 
Cripple-bank, or gathe, was also the site of the ancient Bar- 
bican, or outer gate, at which the poor and diseased received 
relief. Of the free chapel, dedicated to St. Nicholas, infra Cas- 
trum de Oswaldestre, the advowson of which belonged to the 
Arundel family, there is not a trace left to mark its situation. 

The sketch of Oswestry Castle which forms one of our 
illustrations shows that, in its pristine state, it was a formid_ 
able structure, of great strength and stateliness. The archi- 
tecture seems to be of the Saxon order. 

THE WALLS. 

The ancient Walls of the town were the work of Edward I. 
and no doubt were well and firmly built ; but scarcely a vestige 
of them remains. Their circumvallation is, however, correctly 
marked in most of the old books, and old inhabitants of the 
present day point out various sites on which portions of the 
184 



ANCIENT HOUSES. 

walls stood. Edward was generally successful in giving strength 
and endurance to his military buildings. Caernarvon, Conway, 
and Rhuddlan Castles, all designed and erected under his 
superintendence, are noble fortresses in the present age, 
notwithstanding the dilapidations they have suffered from 
military attack and "Time's effacing fingers." The Walls of 
Oswestry must have suffered much injury during the period 
of the Commonwealth; and perhaps private encroachments 
since that time have been the principal cause of their entire 
disappearance. 

ANCIENT HOUSES. 

There are still remaining several ancient timber houses, 
to mark the architecture of bye-gone times. Among these 
are, the Three Tuns public-house, in Bailey-Street, and an 
antique edifice forming the angle of Bailey-Street and Cross- 
Street, in front of which is the figure of a spread eagle, 
raised on the plaster, and supposed to have been the residence 
of the Lloyds, of Trenewydd, who bore the eagle in their 
coat of arms. The Three Tuns was a popular house in 
former days, and was the resort of most of the drapers who 
visited the fairs and markets of the borough. Among the 
other old timber buildings are Miss Holbrooke's, in Salop- 
Road, the most attractive of any in the town, from the neat- 
ness in which it is kept, the Coach and Dogs, and the Fighting 
Cocks public-houses. These relics of past days may not be 
allowed to remain much longer, now that improvement in 
the town is likely to become so rapid in its strides. 

The railway extension, from Oswestry to Welshpool and 
Newtown, will effect important changes in most parts of 
the borough ; and as the antique relics to which we have been 
alluding are comparatively useless in a social point of view, 
their sites may soon be covered with buildings better adapted, 
to the comforts and requirements of the present day. 
185 



ANCIENT RELICS. 

A ball found many years ago near the Cross in Oswestry, 
and now in the possession of W. Ormsby Gore, Esq., is con- 
sidered to be one of the weights used at the end of beams in 
what was called Auncel Weight, practised in the reign of 
Edward I. It is ornamented with a shield, bearing the arms 
of England simply, which dates it before the 15th of Edward, 
as in that year he claimed the crown of France, and immedi- 
ately, on obtaining it, placed the arms of that kingdom in 
the first quarter of his shield. On the second shield appears 
the bearing of the Fitz-Alans, a lion rampant. The third 
shield has an eagle displayed, most probably of the gentle- 
man who at that period filled the office of Steward. 

Some further antiquities require a brief notice. The field 
known by the name of Croft-y-Spytty, that is, the Croft of 
the Hospitallers, intimates that the Knight Hospitallers had 
once some establishment in the town. The field known as 
Erw-Spiridion, the Acre of Sprudion, or Spiridion, would 
lead to the conclusion that a church or chapel, or the ground 
itself, had been dedicated to the supposed Saint ycleped Spi- 
ridion. In a former part of this volume we have referred to 
Maes-y-garreg-llwyd, that is, the Plain or Field of the Sacred 
Stone. That plain is now divided into fields, situated on the 
Shrewsbury road, contiguous to Gallows-tree turnpike-gate. 
In the field nearest to the town there stands a Stone Pillar, 
about seven feet in height, and twelve in circumference ; and 
in the field farthest from the town, there is a similar Pillar. 
The late Rev. Peter Roberts, the learned antiquarian, was of 
opinion that all the fields at that end of the town formed a 
large plain when these pillars were erected, and bore the name 
already mentioned, of Maes-y-garreg-llwyd. Llwyd was an 
epithet of the Deity, as in the expression " Duw llwyd," the 
Sacred God. Between these two pillars there is still visible part 
of a ditch, called the Devil's Ditch ; and adjacent to the farthest 
field was another called " C aery chain Bannog," or the Field of 
186 



ANCIENT RELICS. 

the bossed Oxen. Mr. Roberts adds, " according to a tradition 
common in Wales, these oxen were twins, and employed by 
Hu Gadarn, a hero of antiquity, to draw a monster out of a 
lake, by which means he saved the country from being inun- 
dated. The popular tradition of the Devil's Ditch is, that an 
evil spirit formed it, in order to convey water to deluge the 
country, and that the ditch was in one night carried as far as 
Wynnstay, but that when the said evil spirit had carried it so 
far, the cock crew, he was obliged to desist, and it was left 
unfinished. Absurd, however, as these traditions may appear, 
-they lead to the true origin, namely, that this ground and the 
pillars had some reference to the Deluge, and it may reason- 
ably be presumed, that in the space included between these 
pillars some druidical rites were performed, in commemoration 
of the Deluge. The setting-up of a pillar, and consecrating 
it to the Deity, was a memorial of reverence to Him in the 
time of the Patriarchs, as we read in Genesis that Jacob set 
up a stone pillar, and consecrated it, in memory of his devoting 
himself to the worship of the true God. And hence it may 
be concluded, that these and such Pillars were in like manner 
the memorials — rude indeed, but durable — of Pagan tradition." 

In the Shrewsbury Chronicle of March 16th, 1832, there 
appeared the following paragraph: — "As some workmen 
were digging in a field near Oswestry, last week, they turned 
up the hilt and part of the blade of an elegant antique sword. 
The blade is in two pieces, completely encrusted with rust, 
and very much corroded, but upon cleaning and grinding a 
part of it, the steel was found to be of excellent temper. The 
handle is apparently of ebony, or some similar wood, but en- 
crusted with the oxyde which has passed from the steel in- 
serted in it, and worked its way through the pores of the wood, 
so as to make it resemble buck's horn. The part of the sword 
which is attached to the hilt (about four inches in length) 
remains in the scabbard, and, what is very remarkable, the 
canvass of which the scabbard is composed is still visible. 
187 



ANCIENT RELICS. 

The scabbard and hilt are mounted with highly-chased silver, 
as perfect as when it came out of the hands of the graver. On 
the end of the hilt is an eagle, pouncing on its prey, and a 
representation of Jupiter and Leda. On each side of the 
guard is a full-length figure, and on the sides of the sword 
end of the hilt are the figures of a spread eagle, and of a doe 
couchant regardant. The latter appears as a crest. On the 
silver plate which covers the opening of the scabbard is the 
representation of an Arcadian Shepherd scene. The sword 
is of the description of those which were worn by the Cavaliers, 
and there can be no reasonable doubt but that it was dropped 
by one of them in the route to which the Royalist army was 
put by Sir Thomas Myddelton, when they made an attempt 
to regain possession of Oswestry, on the 2nd of July, 1644, 
after its capture by the Parliament forces. ' They had taken 
the passage of water,' says Sir Thomas Myddelton, 'near to 
Whittington, and very furiously assaulted and charged us, 
but were repulsed and forced to retyre, through the courage 
of our horse, who most courageously entertained the enemy. 
Three several times the skirmish was doubtful, either side 
being forced so often to retreat ; but in the end, our foot 
forces coming up, relieved the horse, beat back the enemy, and 
pursued them with such force, that they put them to an 
absolute flight, in which we pursued them five miles towards 
Shrewsbury, to a place called Felton Heath, and where we like- 
wise remained after their flight again, masters of the field. In 
the skirmish with the enemy, and in the pursuite we lost several 
of our horse, some of our troopers, but never a footman which 
I am yet informed of. As for the enemy, they lost many stout 
men ; had many of them taken prisoners, some of them being 
of great quality, as the Lord Newport's eldest son, and besides 
in their flight, such was their haste, that we found in our 
pursuite, the highway as it were strewed with ammunition, &c.' 
As this relic was found in the line of this pursuit, the road 
having passed through the field, there can be scarcely a doubt 
of its having belonged to one of the officers of Charles's army." 

188 



Oswald's well. 

The sword is in the possession of Mr. Sabine, in whose field 
it was found. 

In March, 1811, two urns were dug out of part of the 
Coney Green, belonging to the late Mr. Thomas Hilditch, of 
Oswestry. They were both of the same composition, but the 
larger one of a finer and more symmetrical form. In the 
smaller urn were found the remains of bones, but whether 
of the human form could not be ascertained. 

A piece of marble, of an oblong form, and resembling an 
ancient club, Was dug out of the ground at Broom Hall, in Oct., 
1836, about five feet below the surface, in a bed of clay. It 
was one inch in thickness, but tapered to an edge all round, 
the broad edge being very sharp. It is supposed to have 
been a weapon of defence in the early British period. 

OSWALD'S WELL 

Is one of the most interesting objects of the town. It is 
beautifully situated to the west of the Free Grammar School, 
and has easy and pleasant approaches to it from Upper Brook- 
Street and from Willow- Street. The Well is supplied by a 
spring flowing from the elevated ground beyond it. It is 
inclosed in a small square basin, in a recess made of stone, 
and arched over. At the back there is a sculptured head 
of King Oswald, once "banded by a royal fillet," and 
formerly the front of the Well was secured by an iron grate ° 
Tradition and superstition have invested the Well with much 
interest, but the purity of the water it sends forth should 
have secured to it a far higher celebrity. We are told that 
Oswald's remains were interred near the spring; that a tree 
was planted there to mark the spot ; that when Oswald was 
slain, in the battle with Penda, an eagle tore one of the arms 
from the body, and, flying off with it, fell down and perished 
on the spot from which the waters burst forth, and have 
continued to flow ever since, as miraculously as the waters 
of St. Winifred's Well, in Flintshire. A later writer on 
189 



Oswald's well. 

Border History has ventured to inform us, that so recently as 
the year 1780 King Oswald's "skull was found in digging 
the pool just below the Well." How the skull was identified 
the writer does not state,, probably from the great difficulty he 
must have had in establishing such an important identification. 
Setting aside all this mystification and nonsense, we are glad to 
put on record, that the water from this Well is justly entitled 
to the appellation of pure aqua fontana ; and from the analysis 
of Sir James Murray, which we subjoin, its medicinal pro- 
perties are of no mean order : — " Thermometer at 470 
Fahrenheit, the water consisting of sulphate of lime (gypsum), 
carbonate of lime, muriate of soda (common salt), muriate of 
magnesia, and sulphate of magnesia. — June 6th, 1822." 




ST. OSWALD'S WELL. 



It is generally admitted, from the records of the ancient 
historical writers, that on the spot where Oswald was slain 
a Monastery was founded, dedicated to him in the character 
of a Saint. It was called Blanc- Minster, or the White 
Monastery, and was situated according to Leland, "on the 
south side of the town." The time of the foundation or 
dissolution is not known, but its situation is fixed near the 
190 



ANCIENT CUSTOMS. 

site of the parish church, as some remains of the building are 
said to have been discovered in digging graves in the church- 
yard. A spot of ground near the church, still called Erw-> 
Myneich, or Monk's Acre, would indicate that Blanc-Minster 
was contiguous to it. In the reign of Henry VIII., as we 
have already stated, Leland visited Oswestry, and noted that 
at that period " the cloister only was standing within the 
memory of persons then living." 

Before closing this notice we would recommend all visitors 
to Oswestry to make a pilgrimage to Oswald's Well. The 
scenery around it is replete with beauty ; and if the day be 
fine and warm, a draught of the water, which constantly 
bubbles up in freshness and pellucid clearness, will cheer 
and not inebriate. The inhabitants possess in this Well a valu- 
able natural treasure which it is their duty to preserve, for their 
common benefit, free from all impurities and contaminations. 

ANCIENT CUSTOMS. 

In a work partly descriptive of the Border Lands of England 
and Wales, it might be deemed a reproach were we silently 
to pass by the customs that once prevailed in the district. 
Many of those ancient customs were innocent and harmless 
in their character, whilst others were connected with super- 
stition which kept the people in mental darkness, and impeded 
the free course of education and knowledge. Our notice of 
these customs will be brief, for they are no longer observed in 
the town, and but slightly so, if at all, in the neighbourhood. 
The printing-press has exploded such folly, and most of the 
ancient customs will very soon, throughout our land, be 
referred to only as evidences of the ignorance of our fore- 
fathers, and their disregard of the educational improvement 
of their fellow-creatures. 

Shrove Tuesday and its observances were vestiges of a 
Roman Carnival, when, as Aubanus tells us, " men eat and 
drank and abandoned themselves to all kinds of foolery, as if 
191 



ANCIENT CUSTOMS. 

resolved to have their fill of pleasure before they were td 
die." " Pancake Bell " is now unheard, because no sexton 
or bell-ringer can be found to pull the rope. Men and women 
do eat pancakes which, when well made, even Soyer would not 
object to; and such gastronomy is* we believe, the sum-total 
of Shrove-tide observances in the present enlightened day. 
Cock-fighting, bull-baiting, and other brutal amusements* 
formerly practised on this day, are abandoned, we trust* 
for ever* 

Good Friday is still observed so far, in reference to 
mundane things, that fathers and mothers indulge their 
children with a plentiful supply of Hot Cross Buns. 
This observance is harmless enough. The day being the anni- 
versary of our Saviour's Crucifixion, it is now marked by the 
entire Christian community as one of solemn worship ; and as 
time rolls on, and religious education prevails, we may 
reasonably expect that a still more devotional regard will 
be paid to this day. 

Easter-Day is no longer observed by people walking into 
the fields early in the morning to see the " sun come dancing 
from the east." The Heaving or Lifting system, formerly 
much practised on Easter Monday and Tuesday, is now 
rapidly on the wane. By men and women not remarkable 
for their love of decency or modesty, it is still partially ob- 
served in Oswestry. The custom would, however, be " more 
honoured in the breach than the observance." 

All Fools' Day (April 1) is, we believe, acknowledged 
by many of that class who are fond of a joke. The wit 
formerly displayed on this day consisted in sending persons 
on what are called sleeveless errands, for the history of Eve's 
mother, for pigeon's milk, and in quest of other absurdities. 
In the present day rude tricks are tried even upon philo- 
sophers, and with much gusto when they succeed. The 
" Verdant Greens," at this season of the year* are especially 
full-blown. 



ANCIENT CUSTOMS. 

May-Day formerly brought with it flowery decorations in 
front of our house-doors ; but this pretty custom has long since 
faded away. 

Walking the Boundaries. — A general custom formerly, 
but observed now in very few places. The Mayor, Church- 
wardens, Overseers, &c, of Oswestry walked the boundaries 
in 1813, and that was the last occasion of this ancient observ- 
ance. 

Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Royal Oak Day, 
Corpus Christi Day, Oswestry Wake, All Saints' 
Eve, St. Swithin's Day, &c, have become, so far as rude 
observances are concerned, mere relics of past days. Our 
ancestors marked all these days with scrupulous attention ; 
but few if any men of the present time have boldness enough 
to set them apart for, rejoicing and merriment — for feast and 
carnival — -as in days of yore. Gunpowder Plot (Nov. 
5) is occasionally noticed by boys, discharging pop-guns, and 
alarming the lieges with bonfires, effigies, squibs and crackers ; 
but that absurd and bigoted observance is in its downward 
course, no one being interested in its continuance at present 
but the pyrotechnists, who tempt boys to spend their money 
in rockets, blue-lights, and other combustibles. 

CHRiSTMAs.^-Some twenty years ago Christmas morn was 
ushered in with the singing of carols by " wakeful Waits," 
thus joyfully celebrating the opening of this truly-festive 
anniversary, and this custom is still partially observed. 
The singers of the Parish Church also greeted the in- 
habitants at their several dwellings with sounds of grateful 
melody. No longer is this latter custom maintained, but 
Christmas Day is marked as a sacred and solemn festival ; 
" the rich and the poor meet together ;" on that day the conven- 
tionalities of rank and dignity are thrown aside ; hospitality 
prevails in every house in the land, from the palace to the 
193 O 



RAILWAY COMMUNICATION. 

cottage ; families are collected together to partake of that day f s 
joyful festivity ; and the nation at large presents the delightful 
picture of one happy family. The rich administer kindly to 
the poor, and all hearts are touched with benevolence or gra- 
titude. Long may our merry Christmas-tides thus be 
observed ; for such customs are based on true religion, whieh 
teaches men •* to love one another." 

Eaitoag Communication. 

We need not enter into detail, now-a-days, to show how 
railway communication was rendered necessary a quarter of a 
century ago by the great increase of travelling throughout 
the land, and the insufficiency as well as inefficiency of stage- 
coach conveyance to satisfy the public wants. When railway 
travelling was first suggested stage-coaches had been "whip- 
ped-up " by " coming events " into improvement ; the people 
were no longer compelled to " drag their slow length along," 
for full five wearisome days, from Chester to London. The 
" Gee-hos," and " Highflyers," at four miles an hour; " The 
Birmingham and Shrewsbury Long Coach, with six able 
horses, in four days;" even the ^ Flying Machine," from 
Shrewsbury to London in two days, had all passed the stage 
of their creeping existence ; and the liege subjects of the 
realm were now beginning to be whirled along, at ten and 
twelve miles an hour, in " Quicksilvers," " Tantivys," " Erin- 
go-braghs," "Tallyhos," "Wonders," and other well-horsed 
and well-appointed vehicles bearing equally excitable names. 
The Coach called "The Wonder" made the journey from Shrews- 
bury to London in a day. An intelligent contributor writes 
— " The late old Justice Smith," in a conversation I had with 
him some 25 years ago, said, * I remember going to London 
70 years ago by a coach called The Fly; we were 7 nights 
and 8 days on the road, and now they go in a day — what a 
man lives to see!'" But even this increased "pace" 
did not meet the requirements of the community. James 
Watts' steam-engine had begun to revolutionize all classes 
194 



RAILWAY COMMUNICATION. 

and occupations. In manufactures, hand-looms, spinning- 
jennies, shuttles, treddles, and the rest of early in^ 
ventions were superseded by steam-power, moving machinery 
for spinning and weaving; in packet and marine con- 
veyance generally Watts' steam-power wrought as great 
a change ; and in the manufacture of metal and porcelain goods, 
the sawing of timber and stone, and even the making of pins 
and needles, steam was the great giant power. With this 
national revolution in trade, manufactures, and commerce, 
came a more active and enterprising spirit among the people ; 
soft and hard goods, as the manufactures of the north and 
midland counties are technically called, were multiplied until 
supply exceeded demand; the locomotive wants and desires 
of the public increased ; and all eyes and heads were turned 
towards Watts' steam-engine as the only mighty agent of acce- 
lerated travelling. The history of the country has supplied the 
results of this great experiment. The ever-honoured George 
Stephenson succeeded in carrying heavily-laden trains, of 
passengers and goods, on the Liverpool and Manchester Rail- 
way, at the rate of thirty miles an hour ; and in the present 
day such is the appetite for rapid railway locomotion, that 
express trains, as they are called, flying over the earth at a 
more than race-horse speed of forty miles an hour, will 
scarcely satisfy the urgent requirements of manufactures and 
commerce. 

Railway projects arose in various parts of the kingdom,, 
and the first step taken towards what has since proved a 
direct communication with this borough and the metropolis 
was the incorporation of the Great Western Railway Company, 
by an Act passed in 5 and 6 of William IV. Some years 
elapsed before any measures were adopted to establish 
railway communication in this district. At length, in 1845., 
when railway "bubbles and squeaks" "affrighted the isle 
from its propriety," a direct line was projected from Chester, 
through Whitchurch and Wem, to Shrewsbury. The scheme 
195 



RAILWAY COMMUNICATION. 

was promoted by the Chester and Holyhead Railway Com* 
pany, the London and Birmingham, and other important 
interests. Mr. Robert Stephenson was appointed engineer, 
and Mr. Mallaby, of Liverpool, solicitor. A Company, 
called the " North Wales Mineral Railway Company," had 
previously obtained an Act for making a line of Railway, 
from Chester to Rhuabon, and on the scheme for the line 
from the former place, via Whitchurch and Wem, being an- 
nounced, a Company, in friendly connection with the North 
Wales Mineral Railway Company, and called the Shrewsbury, 
Oswestry, and Chester Junction Railway Company, was 
formed for the purpose of extending the Railway from 
Rhuabon to Shrewsbury, in opposition to the other scheme 
mentioned above. The late Mr, Henry Kelsall, of Chester, 
was appointed solicitor, and Mr. Robertson engineer. A sharp 
struggle between the rival Companies ensued, but at length 
the line from Chester to Shrewsbury, via Whitchurch and 
Wem, was abandoned ; by the prudent interposition of Mr. 
Edward Williams, solicitor, of Oswestry, (of the firm 
of "Longueville and Williams/') the dissentient land- 
owners were appeased; and the "Shrewsbury, Oswestry, 
and Chester Junction Railway Company " obtained their 
Act, which passed through parliament as an unopposed 
Bill, the royal assent being given to it the 30th of June, 
1845. W. Ormsby Gore, Esq., as Chairman of the 
successful line, rendered powerful assistance to its claims, 
having clearly seen the advantages which it must render to 
the important interests of North Shropshire. The next step 
was to unite the two lines between Chester and Shrewsbury, 
viz., the North Wales Mineral Railway, and the Shrewsbury, 
Oswestry, and Chester Junction, and an arrangement was 
accordingly entered into by the two Companies, by which, 
in 1846, they were united into one, under the title of 
" The Shrewsbury and Chester Railway Company." The 
subsequent history of this line is patent to the public j the 
battles of the Great Western Railway interest, with those of 
196 



RAILWAY COMMUNICATION. 

the North Western, each Company seeking to possess the 
line, almost rivalling in intensity the fierce struggles 
of the ancient Roses — -York and Lancaster. In the 
Parliamentary Session of 1854 a Bill was brought into the 
House of Commons by Viscount Barrington* Lord Norreys, 
and Sir Phillip Egerton* to authorize the consolidation, into 
one Company, of the Great Western the Shrewsbury and 
Birmingham, and the Shrewsbury and Chester Railways. The 
Bill was sanctioned by Parliament, and the Act is now cited 
for all purposes under the title of " The Great Western, 
Birmingham, and Chester Railway Section." By this con- 
solidation of these several Companies a direct communication 
with London, under one system of Railway management, has 
been secured to the town of Oswestry ; the journey by the 
Express Trains occupying no more than about five and a half 
hours. The country through which the Great Western line runs 
is remarkable for its beauty and interest. Windsor Castle, 
Oxford, Blenheim, Leamington, Warwick, and other attractive 
places, are in close proximity ; and to add to these advantages, 
the care, attention, and able management of the entire line, 
are further agreeable features in the route, which all travellers 
on the railway gratefully acknowledge. 

To the inhabitants of Oswestry and its vicinity it is un- 
necessary to say anything in praise of the attractive scenery 
that gives such lively interest to the railway between 
Shrewsbury and Chester. To the stranger, however, and the 
summer tourist in search of the sublime and picturesque, we 
may remark, that few lines in the kingdom present so many 
charms to the admiring gaze as this most delightful railway. 
Llangollen Vale has a world-wide celebrity ; whilst the Chirk 
Viaduct, spanning the Ceiriog Vale; the pretty village of 
Chirk ; Lord Dungannon's pleasant seat at Brynkinalt ; " Chirk 
Castle walls ;" Wynnstay Park ; the fine tower of Wrexham 
Church ; Gresford Vale, with its luxuriant and refreshing 

scenery ; and the graceful approach to Chester, across " Sweet 
197 



NEW EXTENSION LINE. 

Deva's wizard stream," and in sight of the animating race-* 
course (the Roodeye), the fine old Roman walls of the cityy 
the ancient Castle, a work of Roman art, the Armoury, county 
Gaol, St. Werburgh's Cathedral, the venerable Church and 
Priory of St. John the Baptist, — these, with many other 
relics of days now 

" Numbered with those beyond the flood," 

must give an intense interest to those who value objects 
stamped with natural beauty and hoary antiquity. 

All hostility between the Ghreat Western and North 
Western Railway Companies having, at least for the 
present, ceased, both of these gigantic undertakings 
can, without Ungenerous feelings one against the other, 
devote their energies and capital to the improvement of all 
departments of their respective undertakings, rendering to the 
public the attention, comfort, and assurance of safety in 
travelling Which railway management ought to secure. 

EXTENSION LINE FROM OSWESTRY TO 
WELSHPOOL AND NEWTOWN. 

Whilst this volume was passing through the press a suc- 
cessful effort was made in carrying through Parliament a 
Bill for extending a line of railway through part of Mont- 
gomeryshire, commencing by a junction with the Shrewsbury 
and Chester Section of the Great Western Railway. The 
Bill was introduced into the House of Commons in the early 
part of the present Session of Parliament (1855), and passed 
through the various stages of that branch of the Legislature 
without opposition. In the House of Lords a slight but un<- 
successful opposition was raised, arid the Bill received the 
Royal assent on the 25th of June. Thus has been secured to 
the county of Montgomery, which is rapidly growing in 
population and importance, the advantage of railway com- 
198 



NEW EXTENSION LINE. 

munication direct from the metropolis, and from the busy seats 
of manufacturing industry in the north. The manufacturing 
and agricultural wealth and enterprise of Montgomeryshire, 
its rich mineral resources, and the benefits which will accrue 
to it by throwing open to its use the affluent coal-fields of 
Shropshire and Denbighshire, were strong claims entitling 
Montgomeryshire to the boon she sought. The further objects 
contemplated by the promoters of this line, in connecting it, 
at no far distant period, with the magnificent national harbour 
at Milford Haven, and thus opening a grand route from that 
capacious landing-place from the north of Ireland to Man- 
chester, Yorkshire, and the Midland Counties, were doubt- 
less among the considerations of Parliament in granting then- 
sanction to this railway. The line will commence by a 
junction with the Shrewsbury and Chester section of the 
Great Western Railway, at its Oswestry terminus, and then 
proceed by Llanymynech, Llandrinio, Llandisilio, and 
Buttington, to Welshpool ; thence, crossing the river Severn, 
near Miltrewydd, will pass between Montgomery and Berriew, 
and on to Newtown, on the south side of the river, where it 
will unite with the Newtown and Llanidloes line. 

The capital authorized to be raised by the " Oswestry and 
Newtown Railway Company " is £250,000. Mr. Benjamin 
Piercy is appointed resident engineer of the line ; and Mr. 
Peter Barlow consulting engineer. The contractors for the 
making of the entire line are Messrs. M'Cormick and Thorn- 
ton, whose previous railway contracts give the best assurance 
that the present line will be constructed in an efficient manner. 



The first general meeting of the shareholders was held at 

the Town Hall, Welshpool, on Saturday, July 21st ; William 

Ormsby Gore, Esq., Chairman of the Board of Provisional 

Directors, in the chair* The attendance was very numerous. 

199 



FIRST RAILWAY MEETING. 

The report stated that it was the intention of the Directors to 
proceed with the construction of the railway with as little 
delay as possible, that the certificates of the proprietorship of 
the shares in the capital of the Company, under the seal of 
the Company, could be forthwith issued to the Shareholders ; 
that the Directors congratulated the Shareholders and the 
district upon the unanimity which had prevailed in the 
establishment and progress of the Company, and expressed 
their hope that this would lead to the speedy completion of 
the undertaking, and the further developement of the re- 
sources of the country. The speakers on this occasion were 
the Chairman, Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart. M.P., the Rev. C. T. C* 
Luxmoore, the Ven. Archdeacon Clive, G. H. Whalley, Esq., 
the Rev. Maurice Lloyd, Richard Humphreys, Esq., George 
Brace, Esq., and other gentlemen. The Directors named in 
the Act were, William Ormsby Gore, Esq., M.P., Sir Watkin 
Williams Wynn, Bart. M.P., D. Pugh, Esq. M.P., John Nay lor, 
Esq., John Carnac Morris, Esq., Richard Herbert Mytton, Esq., 
John Davies Corrie, Esq., Rowland Jones Venables, Esq., 
Arthur James Johnes, Esq., Col. Herbert Watkin Williams 
Wynn, M.P., J. Powell Wilding, Esq., and Wm. Lloyd, Esq., 
and they were re-elected unanimously. An important resolution 
was also passed, " That it is the opinion of this meeting, that it 
is of the utmost importance to the interest of the Company 
that a communication by railway should be effected between 
Newtown and Milford Haven; and the Directors are hereby 
requested to afford such co-operation and assistance to any 
Companies now existing, or which may be projected, as would 
best tend to accomplish that object." The entire proceedings 
were marked by harmony and good spirit, and all present 
appeared suitably impressed with the importance and value of 
railway communication through Montgomeryshire, and with 
the benefits, in connection with the great national harbour at 
Milford Haven, which would ultimately accrue to the 
<r Oswestry and Newtown Railway Company." Few, if 
200 



STATISTICS. 

any, railway enterprizes were ever started under a more able 
and upright management, and perhaps equally few lines, of 
so short a distance, had at their outset such encouraging pros- 
pects before them. With these signal advantages no doubt 
can be entertained that the undertaking will be crowned with 
abundant success. 

Statistics. 

The Borough of Oswestry is situated on the north-west 
border of Shropshire, in the Diocese of St. Asaph, and 
Deanery of Marchia, and in the Hundred to which it gives 
name. In 1535, by a statute of Henry VIII., Oswestry, 
with Whittington, Maesbrook, Knockin, Ellesmere, Down, 
and Chirbury, was, by Act of Parliament, severed from 
Wales, and annexed to the County of Salop. The Hundred 
of Oswestry is bounded on the west by Montgomeryshire 
and Denbighshire ; on the north by the rivers Ceiriog and 
Dee, and the stream of Shelbrook, which separates it from 
Denbighshire and Flintshire ; on the east by the Hundred of 
Pimhill ; and on the south by the rivers Vyrnwy and Severn, 
which divide it from Montgomeryshire, and from the Hundred 
of Ford. 

The Upper Division of the Hundred contains the parishes 
of 

St. Martin, Llanymynech (part of), 

Whittington, - Llansilin (part of), 

Selattyn (part of), West Felton (part of), 

Oswestry (part of), Ellesmere (part of), 

Llanyblodwel, 
and the extra*parochial places of Halston and Heath Farm. 

The parish of St. Martin contains the townships of 
Ifton Rhyn (upper), Ifton Rhyn (lower), Weston Rhyn 
(upper), Weston Rhyn (lower), and Bronygarth (east and 
west). 

201 



STATISTICS. 

The parish of Whittington contains the townships of 
Whittington, Welsh Frankton, . Old Marton (part of), 
Berghill, Daywell, Fernhill, Hindford, Henlle, and Ebnall. 

The parish of Selaityn contains the townships of 
Porkington (upper), and Porkington (lower). 

The parish of Oswestry contains the townships of Oswestry, 
Middleton, Aston, Hisland, Wobton, Sweeney, Weston 
Cotton, Maesbury, Llanvorda, Pentregaer, Cynynion, Coed- 
tan ygaer, Treferclawdd, Treflaeh, Trefonen, and Crickheath. 
The parish of Oswestry contains also the township and 
chapelry of Morton, which are in the Lower Division of 
the Hundred. 

The parish of Llanyblodwel contains the townships of 
Llanyblodwel, Abertanat, Blodwel, Bryn, and Llynclis* 
or Llunck-Llys. 

The parish of Llanymynech contains the townships of 
Carreghofa, Llanymynech and Llwyhtidman. The parish of 
Llanymynech contains also the township of Treprenal, which 
is in the Lower Division. The rest of the parish is in 
Denbighshire, and, for election and other purposes, is annexed 
to Montgomeryshire. 

The parish of Ellesmere, in the Upper Division of the 
Hundred of Oswestry, contains the townships of Dudleston 
(upper), and Dudleston (lower). The other townships in 
the parish are in the Ellesmere Division of the Hundred of 
Pimhill. 

The parish of West Felton contains the townships of 
Woolston (part of), Sandford, and Twyford. The other 
townships in this parish, namely, West Felton, Sutton, Red- 
nal, Haughton, and Tedsmere^ are in the Lower Division^ 

The parish of Llansilinhas only one township in Shropshire 
(Sychtyn). The rest of the parish is in Denbighshire. 
202 



STATISTICS. 

The Lower Division of the Hundred contains the parishes 
of 

"West Felton (part of), Melverley (part of), 
Knockin, Oswestry (part of), 

Ruyton, Llanymynech (part of), 

fclNNERLEY. 

The 'parish of West Felton contains the townships of West 
Felton, Rednal, Sutton, Haughton, and Tedsmere, or 
Tedsmore. The other townships in the parish, namely, 
Woolston, Sandford, and Twyford, are, as already stated, in 
the Upper Division. 

The parish of Knockin contains only the township of 
Knockin. 

The parish of Ruyton (of the Eleven Towns) contains the 
townships of Ruyton, Cotton, Shotatton, Shelvocke, Eardis- 
ton, and Wikey. 

The parish of Kinnerley contains the townships of Kinner- 
ley and Argoed, Dovaston, Kynaston, or Kinaston, Maes- 
brook-issa, Maesbrook-ucha, Edgerley, Tir-y-Coed, and 
Osbaston. 

The parish of Melverley contains the townships of Melver- 
ley (upper), and Melverley (lower). 

The parish of Oswestry, in the Lower Division of the 
Hundred, contains only the township of Morton. 

The parish of Llanymynech f in the Lower Division of the 
Hundred, contains the townships of Carreghofa and Treprenal. 

The Manors in Oswestry Parish are Aston, Duparts, and 

Middleton. Aston includes the townships of Aston, His- 

land, and Wooton, and also Twyford, in West Felton 

parish. Duparts includes the township of Crickheath, 

203 



POPULATION. 

Cynynion, Llanvorda, Maesbury, Morton, Pentre-gaer, 
Sweeney, with Weston Cotton, and the township of Sychtyn, 
in Llansilin parish. Middleton includes the township of 
Middleton, and Oswestry the town and liberties of Oswestry. 
Lady of the Manor for Aston, Mrs. Lloyd; and Lord of 
the Manor of Oswestry and Duparts, the Earl of Powis. 

POPULATION. 

The population of the town and parish, in 1801, amounted 
to 5,839 ; and the number of houses, 788. In 1811 the 
population of the town and parish had increased to 6,733. 
In 1821 the returns showed that the population of the town 
and parish was still on the increase, the number of males and 
females being 7,523. The population of the town and liber- 
ties, in June, 1831, was— males, 2,007; females, 2,471; 
total, 4,478. The return further showed that the number of 
houses in course of being built, was 3 ; houses uninhabited, 
29 ; ditto inhabited, 885 ; families engaged in agriculture, 
11 ; in trade, 276 ; all others, 613. Total number of families, 
899. Male servants, 42 ; females, 311 ; retired tradesmen, 
38 ; clergy, educated men, &c, 79 ; handicraft, 567 ; 
gardeners, &c, 232. The returns for 1841 were as follows ; 
—Town and Liberties, 4,569 ; Parish, 4,277 ; total, 8,846. 
Houses occupied in the town, 931 ; unoccupied and building, 
68; in the parish, 886; unoccupied and building, 18. In 
1851 the census returns were as follows : — 

MALES. FEMALES. TOTAL. 

Town and Liberties 2,251 2,565 4,816 

The Parish 1,972 2,006 3,978 

Total 4,223 4,571 8,794 

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 

A return was made in 1854, giving the following details on 
agriculture, in reference to Oswestry Town and Liberties, 
Oswestry Parish, and other parishes within the Hundred :— 
204 



AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 

The total number of acres occupied in the Town and Liberties 
of Oswestry, the Parish of Oswestry, Llansilin, Llanyblodwel, 
Selattyn, Llwyntidman, Sychtyn, St. Martin's, Chirk, 
Whittington, Felton, Ruyton, Knockin, and Kinnerley, was 
78,301 ; sown with wheat, 7,909 acres; with barley, 6,512 ; 
oats, 2,924; rye, 39§ ; beans and peas, 275 ; vetches, 160; 
turnips, 4,420j ; mangold, 48j ; carrots, 24 ; potatoes, 566 ; 
flax, 5. Total under tillage, 24,013 ; clover, lucerne, and 
other artificial grasses, 6,307|; permanent pasture, 3,198; 
irrigated meadows, 2,599j ; sheep walks and downs, 3,095j; 
total under grass, 63,990 ; number of acres in houses, gardens, 
roads, fences, &c, l,468f ; number of acres in waste (if 
any) attached to the farms, 2,258 ; horses, 2,618 ; colts, 
802 ; milch cows, 6,854 ; calves, 5,571 ; other cattle, in- 
cluding working oxen, 4,636 ; tups, 588 ; ewes, 12,509 ; 
lambs, 9,047 ; other sheep, 4,572 ; swine, 7,142 ; number 
of acres in wood and plantations, 3,749 ; common lands, 227. 

The greatest registered quantity of wheat, according to the 
excise returns, ever sold in one day at Oswestry market, was 
disposed of on Wednesday, the 11th of July, 1855, namely, 
4,373 imperial measures. 

Natural Hfetorg. 

Our limits will not admit of extended observation on this 
subject, but it is our duty to direct the attention of our 
readers to the feathered tribes in the district, which include 
many of the more remarkable and beautiful of British birds. 
Mr. Cross, of Oswestry, has, in the last few years, made 
collections of rare and valuable birds, some delightful 
songsters, including the nightingale, the piping bullfinch, with 
birds of prey, those of the passerine order, and a large variety 
of water birds. The following list, formed more than twenty 
years ago, the names given according to Bewick's history of 
birds, will show that the neighbourhood has long abounded 
with fine specimens of the feathered creation : — 
205 



NATURAL HISTORY. 

Kites.-*— Ring-tailed eagle, osprey, common buzzard, 
honey buzzard, kite, goshawk, sparrow-hawk, hen 
harrier, kestrel, and marten. 

Owls. — Great-eared owl, white owl, and tawny owl. 

Butcher Birds.— ^Great ash^coloured shrike, red-backed 
shrike. 

Pies. — Raven, carrion crow, hooded crow, rook, jack- 
daw, magpie, jay, starling, ring ousel, ousel cock or 
blackbird, missel thrush or storm cock, fieldfare, 
throstle or thrush, redwing, cuckoo, and wryneck. 

Woodpeckers.-— Green, greater spotted, lesser spotted, 
nuthatch, and creeper. 

Grosbeaks.— Grosbeak or hawfinch, green grosbeak, 
bullfinch, pine grosbeak. 

Buntings. — Brown, yellow hammer, blackheaded or reed 
sparrow, and snow bunting. 

Finches. — House sparrow, mountain sparrow, chaff, or 
pied-finch, mountain-finch, gold-finch, linnet, and 
lesser redpole. 

Larks. — Sky-lark, field-lark, grashopper-lark, wood- 
lark, and tit-lark. 

Wagtails.— Pied, or water wagtail, grey, and yellow. 

Flycatchers. — Pied, or gold-finch, spotted, or house 
linnet. 

Warblers.' — Robin redbreast or ruddock, redstart or 
brantail. 

Fauvette. — Lesser fauvette, winter fauvette or hedge 
sparrow, reed fauvette, black-cap, white-throat, yellow 
willow wren, willow wren, least willow wren, wren, 
golden-crested wren, white rump or wheat ear, win-chat, 
or gorsehopper, stonechat, and nightingale. 
206 



NATURAL HISTORY. 

Titmice. — Greater, blue or tom-tit, cole, marsh, long- 
tailed, or can-bottle. 

Swallows. — Chimney swallow, marten, sand marten, 
swift or deviling, night jaw or fern owl. 

Doves. — Wild pigeon, ring dove, turtle dove, and small 
black rock pigeon. 

Gallinaceous.-— Domestic cock, pheasant, turkey, pea- 
cock, pintado or guinea fowl, wood grouse, black 
grouse, red grouse, partridge, quail, corncrake or land- 
rail. 

Plovers. — Great plover, pee-wit or jlapwingj golden 
plover, and grey plover. 

Water Birds. — Long-legged plover, water crake, or 
rail, water ousel, and kingfisher or haleyon. 

Herons. — Heron, bittern or bog-boom, and curlew. 

Snipes. — Woodcock, great snipe, common snipe, and 
judcock, or jacksnipe. 

Godwit. — Brown sandpiper, common sandpiper, water, 
or moor hen, coot, greater coot, great crested grebe, 
little grebe, or jack doucker. 

Terns. — Common and lesser. 

Common gull. 

Ducks. — Wild swan, swan goose, grey-lag goose, tame 
goose, mallard, or wild duck, shieldrake, widgeon, 
and teal. 

Pelicans. — Cormorant, — pelecanus graculus, or the shag. 

The district has occasionally other aerial visitants, including 
the peregrine falcon^ the bird which furnished the 
ancient amusement of falconry, the colymbus troile, 
or guillemot, and the corvus caryocatactes y or nut- 
cracker. 
207 



NATURAL HISTORY. 

Mr. Cross's specimens are of recent date, many of the birds 
named having been taken during the last twelve months. 
We subjoin his list, which will be read with interest by all 
lovers of natural histoiy : — 

Peregrine falcon, kite, buzzard, goshawk, blue hawk, 
merlin, hobby, sparrow hawk, kestrel, large butcher 
bird, small butcherbird. Tawny owl, white owl, long- 
eared owl, short-eared owl, night jay or goat sucker- 
cuckoo. Green woodpecker, great spotted wood- 
pecker, lesser spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, creeper. 
Wood pigeon, rock pigeon, coblard turtle, turtle 
dove. Rook, crow, jackdaw, magpie, jay, starling, 
black bird, wood thrush, thrush, fieldfare, red wing, 
stone chat, whin-chat, yellow hammer, mounting finch, 
red finch, gold-finch, bull-finch, robin, reed sparrow, 
hedge sparrow, common sparrow, green linnet, grey 
linnet, yellow wagtail, pied wagtail, red start, black 
cap, pied flycatcher, spotted flycatcher, white throat, 
black cap titmice, small black cap titmice, blue cap 
titmice, long tailed titmice, willow wren, common wren, 
golden crested wren. Swift, barn swallow, house 
marten, sand marten. Woodlark, skylark, meadow 
pipit, tree pipit. Pheasant, grouse, partridge, black 
grouse, corncrake. Heron, bittern, cormorant, eared 
grebe, goosander, smews, curlew, widgeon, silver 
widgeon, magpie widgeon, golden eye widgeon, pintail 
duck, coot, moorhen, jack curlew, teal, seagull, wood- 
cock, solitary snipe, common snipe, small grebe, lap- 
wing, grey plover, golden plover, jack snipe, water 
rail, ring ouzel, water ouzel, marsh sandpiper, common 
sandpiper, knot, and kingfisher. 



liters. 




ANGLING. 

)swestry has no rivers immediately contiguous to it, 
gjfj| but at short and easily-approachable distances are 
several, namely, the Severn, the Vyrnwy, the Tanat, the Dee, 
the Ceiriog, the Perry, the Morlas, and the Morda. The 
Severn has its rise from a small lake, on the eastern side of 
Plinlimmon, whence it flows in a devious direction, under 
the Welsh name of Hafren, to Newtown, whence it assumes 
its English name of Severn, and pursues its circuitous route 
to Shrewsbury. From its source to fair Salopia it runs 
nearly one hundred miles, receiving the waters of several 
tributaries. From Shrewsbury it continues its winding course, 
and receives the Tern, at the foot of the Wrekin, about which 
it describes a semi-circle ; then curving repeatedly, it flows 
towards Coalbrookdale, whence it flows in a north-west direc- 
tion to Tewksbury, and eventually to the British Channel. 
Blakey, in his recently- published volume on " Angling," says, 
" The best bottom-fishing for carp, perch, roach, chub, and 
eel, is within those portions of the river appropriated to 
navigation. Grayling are to be met with in many parts of 
the Severn." The Vyrnwy and Tanat abound with fish ; 
the former so much so that it has obtained the title of Piscosus 
Amnis. The Tanat falls into the Vyrnwy at Aber-Tanat, 
and the Vyrnwy into the Severn at a place called 
Y Cymmerau (the Conflux), at the lower end of Guilsfield 
209 P 



RIVERS — ANGLING. 

parish, not far distant from the Breiddin, Moel y Golfa, and 
Cefh y Castell mountains. The scene in this district has 
been sung in rapturous and beautiful strains by a Welsh bard 
and warrior, of the 12th century (Gwalchmai) :^— 

" Rise orb of day! the eastern gates unfold, 
And shew thy crimson mantle, fring'd with gold; 
Contending birds sing sweet on every spray, 
The skies are bright — arise, thou orb of day ! 
I, Gwalchmai, call — in song, in war renown' d, 
Who, lion-like, confusion spread around, — 
The live-long night the Hero and the Bard, 
Near Breiddin' s rocks, have left a constant guard, 
Where old transparent streams in murmurs glide, 
And springing grass adorns the mountain's side, 
Where snow-white sea-mews in the current play, 
Spread their gay plumes, and frolic through the day!" 

Blakey furnishes some practical information on this branch 
of our notice. He says : — " The Vyrnwy has a great number 
of dependent feeders, the principal of which are the Eunant, 
the Afon, the Gedis, the Afon Gynnan, the Glasgwn, and the 
Cown. These undoubtedly constitute a considerable range 
of the waters, and are well adapted for the fly, and some for 
trolling as well. After the main river receives all these 
tributaries, it flows a south-eastern course for twenty miles, 
and then receives the waters of the Twrch, which flows a 
distance of twenty miles, through a very interesting section 
of the country. This tributary itself has good angling feeders, 
capable of affording fair sport with the rod. The Vyrnwy 
likewise receives the Cain, and, a little farther down, the 
Tanat, both of which contain good fish. The Tanat itself 
is fed by several good streams, as the Rhaiadr, the Afon 
Harroff, and the Ymrch. Here there is good fly-fishing. All 
these waters, large and small, are bright, sparkling, and 
flowing, and have that peculiar form of stream which indicates 
good sport. As to the colour of the fly requisite in these 
mountain streams, little need be said ; in fact, when the fish 
210 



RIVERS ANGLING. 

are in humour, and they are not here capricious, they seem 
to snatch at anything in the shape of an insect. Very large 
flies, however, will not answer well." 

The Dee has its origin in Merionethshire, by the junction 
of two small streams rising about four miles to the north-west 
of Llanwchllyn, and two miles below that village enters 
Pimblemere, or Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid); issuing from that, 
beneath Bala, it flows under the bridge, takes a north-easterly 
direction through the Vale of Eideirnion, and turning to the 
east in fine meandering curves, waters the Vales of Glyn- 
dwrdwy (Vale of the Dee), and Llangollen, where it receives 
the tributary Bran. Thence, passing through Llangollen 
Vale, beneath Pont-y-cysyllte Aqueduct, and the Great 
Western (Shrewsbury and Chester) Viaduct, both of which span 
the Vale, it curves below Wynnstay Park, emerges into the Vale 
Royal of Cheshire, and finally, after passing through Holt, 
and skirting Eaton Hall, the magnificent seat of the 
Marquis of Westminster, glides past the Church of St. John 
the Baptist, in Chester, beneath the ancient and new bridges 
and railway viaduct there, and finally, at the estuary of the Dee, 
enters St. George's Channel. The portion of the Dee running 
through Denbighshire and Flintshire (not far distant from 
Oswestry,) is an excellent locality for trout-fishing, as the 
well-supplied dinner-tables of the two hotels in Llangollen 
(the Hand and the Victoria) can amply testify. The Ceiriog, 
the Perry, the Morlas, and the Morda, are each well stored 
with fish, and can supply the angler with tempting rewards 
for his patience and skill. The Lake of Llynclys, near 
Oswestry, has not only a poetical, but a piscatory celebrity 
also. It is the scene of a clever ballad, from the pen of the 
poet Dovaston, who, as a prefix to his metrical tale, has given 
the following description of the Lake : — -" Llynclys Pool is a 
small but beautiful lake, of extraordinary depth, on the 
Welsh border, near Oswestry. The name in the Welsh 
signifies Sunk Palace, and the vulgar have a firmly-believed 
211 



RIVERS ANGLING. 

superstition (in which the neighbourhood abounds), corre- 
sponding with the catastrophe of this ballad ; nay, some even 
at this day go so far as to affirm, that when the water is clear 
and the surface smooth, towers and chimneys may be seen in 
it at a great depth. In the summer months fishing parties 
of ladies and gentlemen frequently spend the day on it in a 
boat with music and refreshments ; on one of these occasions 
this ballad was hastily written." The Lake is situated near 
the turnpike-road from OsWestry to Welshpool, only a short 
distance from Llynclys turnpike-gate. It is bordered on 
some of its sides with reeds and rushes, and a few years ago 
the flower of a white water lily was pulled up, not far from 
the shore, the stalk of which measured nearly fourteen feet. 
The fishery is the property of the Earl of Powis, and the 
water abounds with pike, bream, perch, and dace. R. H. 
Kinchant, Esq., of Park Hall, near Oswestry, has also an 
interest in the fishery. 

The Ceiriog, a picturesque and romantic river, winds among 
the rocks behind Oswestry, forming deep glens and dingles, 
and falls into the Dee below Chirk. The Perry and Morlas 
are two bright rivulets arising in the mountains near Selattyn ; 
the former passes Whittington and falls into the Severn, near 
Fitz, whilst the latter unites with the Ceiriog, near Pont-y- 
blew. The Morda, no inconsiderable stream, finds its rapid 
way between the rocks at Llanforda, immediately above the 
town of Oswestry, and, sweeping its course to the south, falls 
into the Vyrnwy at Pentreheylin. 

The following metrical instructions to the student angler, 
although the lines are quaint, may not be deficient of interest 
to the younger disciples of Isaac Walton : — 

" In deep the silver Salmon loves to rove ; 
And marly swifts allure the Barbel drove ; 
Sharp streams delight the Trout, still deep the Bream ; 
The fearful Chub, he loves the shaded stream. 
In shady holes and hollow banks, the Perch he dwells, 
212 



BOTANY. 

And, for his boldness, the finny race excels ; 

Roach and Dace the sandy bottom choose, 

And Carp the weeds, and Tench the muddy ooze. 

In streams with gravel bottom Gudgeons do delight, 

The wanton Bleak will ever sport in sight ; 

The Pike, the tyrant of the finny brood, 

Near weeds and ledge lies lurking for his food." 

Botattg of tfje Parish 

We are indebted to the Rev. Thomas Salwey, Vicar of 
Oswestry, for the subjoined interesting paper on the 
Botany of the Parish. It gives evidence of his ardent attach- 
ment to this pleasing branch of Natural History, and its 
publication may lead others to follow his example, in studying 
a science which delightfully leads the mind of its possessor 
to an increased admiration of the beauty and wisdom of the 
Creator's marvellous works : — 

" By cooling streams and softening showers 

The vegetable race are fed ; 
And trees and plants, and herbs and flowers 
Their Maker's bounty smiling spread. 

The flowing tribes all blooming rise 

Above the faint attempts of art ; 
Their bright inimitable dyes 

Speak sweet conviction to the heart." 

"The interest and variety of the Botanical productions of 
any district will always be found to depend upon its geolo- 
gical character ; and in this respect there are perhaps few 
Parishes which comprise within their boundaries so many 
different geological formations as that of Oswestry. The 
lower part of the Parish, from the neighbourhood of the 
Town to the Queen's Head, consists of the new red sand- 
stone ; or rather to that part of it which is called by modern 
Geologists the Permian formation, and which is so called be- 
cause this formation is most amply developed in the District of 
Perm, in Russia. The Town itself is situated upon the coal- 
measures. "With this is associated the usual sandstone grit and 
213 



BOTANY. 

chert, breaking out in Sweeney Mountain and Mynydd-y- 
Myfyr. Immediately at the back of these hills the mountain, 
or carboniferous limestone, breaks out, running in a line through 
the parish from Cynynion, thrdugh Pentregaer, Trefonen, and 
Treflach, to Porth-y-waen. This is here and there broken through 
by detached masses of Trap Rock, as at the point on which the 
Tower of Pentregaer is built, and upon the western slope of 
the Moelydd ; whilst on the slope of the hill from Cynynion, 
and under Coed-y-Coch, the Silurian system begins to shew 
itself. In such a district we may reasonably expect a corres- 
ponding variety of plants. In the following list, howeyer, it 
is by no means intended to give anything like a complete 
enumeration of the plants to be found within the district, 
which would be inconsistent with such a publication as the 
present. Such plants only have been selected as will show 
the character of the Botany, and be a sufficient guide to any 
Botanist in conducting his researches. 

" Great, howeyer, as is the variety of Geological formation 

within the Parish, there is one feature, always of the greatest 

interest to the Botanist, which unfortunately it does not possess* 

namely, old woods, with their ancient oaks, the growth of 

centuries, and the deep mossy dells which are so favourable 

to the production of the scarcer cryptogamic plants. We 

have no scenery of this kind in our Parish, or even in the 

immediate neighbourhood, and hence our mosses are only 

those which are found everywhere. The beautiful little 

Dicranum bryoides (the moss which so revived the spirit of 

the unfortunate Mungo Park when fainting in the deserts of 

Africa), may indeed be found in Broom Hall lane ; and the 

Hypnum commutatum may be gathered at the foot of the 

Moelydd. The Bryum palustre may also be found above 

Morda pool ; and the Bryum roseum, and the large and 

handsome Bryum ligulatum, in some of the wet and shady 

lanes in the upper part of the Parish ; but beyond these I am 

not aware that there are any mosses of peculiar interest to be 

found amongst us. We have, however, a greater variety of 
214 



BOTANY. 

ferns than perhaps any other district of equal extent could 
produce ; but here again only the more scarce ones are 
enumerated. 

" The more minute cryptogamic plants, and especially those 
under the head of Fungi, will of course be the least interesting 
portion of the list ; but any notice of the Botany of the 
district would be incomplete without the introduction of a 
proportionate number of these obscure, but, to a Botanist, 
highly-interesting plants, 

" The following are some of the plants which will be found 
in the parish, or close to its immediate boundaries : — 



^jjrrangtum 



Circoea lutetiana — Penylan and Llanforda lanes 

Scirpus lacustris —Llynclys pool. 

Arundo phragmites — Llynclys pool * 

Myosotis collina — Hedge Banks about Pentreshanel, 

Anchusa sempervirens — Croes-wylan, and Llanforda lane. 

Menyanthes trifoliata — Bog above Morda pool. 

Campanula trachelium — Hedges between Cynynion, and Pentregaer. 

Viola hirta — Limestone rocks, Trefonen. 

Artropa Belladomia—'PoYthyviSLen. 

Gentiana amarella — Moelydd. 

„ campestris — Ditto. 
Parnassia palustris — Meadows between Sweeney and Morton; and in a 

field on the west side of the Brick-kilns, at the High Vawr. 
Galanthus nivalis — Upon the ledge of a low rock on the west side of 

Sweeney mountain. 
Allium ursinum — Lanes and moist places about the upper parts of the Parish; 

and in the Nant-Mawr. 
Colchichum autumnale — Meadows at Sweeney and elsewhere. 
Paris quadrifolia — Thickets about Trenach. 

Adoxa moschatellina — Broom Hall lane ; Penylan lane ; and other places. 
Chrysosplenium alternifolium — Near the mill at Llanforda ; and in other 

similar wet places. 
,, oppositifolium — Ditto. 

Saxifraga tridactylites — Walls about the Town ; and rocks at Pentregaer 

and Craig-y-Rhu. 
* This reed is used extensively in Cambridgeshire, and the fen districts, for 

thatching, It has been known to last in this way for 100 years. 

215 



BOTANY. 

Cotyledon umbilicus — In the lane below the Race-ground, on the east side. 

Sedum anglicum — Rocks below Coed-y-coch ; and between Craig-y-Rhu 
and Cynynion. 

Prunus padus — Below Penylan mill. 

Pyrus aria — Craig-y-Rhu. 

Rosa villosa — Pentregaer. 

Tilia parvifolia — Croes-wylan lane. 

Cistus helianthemum — Rocks at Trefonen, above the Nant-Mawr. 

Aquilegia vulgaris — Thickets at Treflach, where it is also found with white 
flowers. 

Ranunculus parviflorus — Not uncommon on hedge banks ; Maesbury road, 
near the Gallows-Tree Bank. 

Trollius europceus — Fields in the upper part of the Parish ; and below the 
house at the Hayes. 

Teucrium cliamcedrys — This was found some years ago upon an old wall 
(since taken down) at the Hayes. It may be found now upon the 
wall of a garden in Brook- Street, lately belonging to the Vicar, 
having been transplanted there from the Hayes. It grows also 
sparingly upon the old walls of Whittington Castle. 

Scrophularia vernalis — Penylan and Llanforda lanes ; brought there pro- 
bably by the celebrated naturalist, Mr. Lloyd, who lived formerly at 
Llwynymaen. 

Hutchinsia petrcea — Pentregaer and Trefonen; upon the slope of the hills 
facing Llansilin. 

drabis hirsuta — Pentregaer. 

Geranium colum binum — Hedge banks, occasionally. 

Fumaria claviculata — Craigforda. 

Ornithopus perpusillus — Moelydd, and Pentregaer. 

Anthyllis vulneraria — Treflach, and Trefonen. 

Tragopogon pratensis — Llanforda (1st park). 

Tussilago petasites — Meadows near Llwynymaen. 

Hieracium paludosum — Maesbury. 

Achillcea ptarmica — Upper part of the Parish. 

Lister a ovata — Road- side near Mount Sion. 

Myriophyllum spicatum — Pool at Llanforda. 

Typha latifolia — Morda, and Llynclys pool. 

Carex paniculata — Llynclys pool. 
,, hirta-- Llanforda 



Cnjpingamiii 

FILICES. 



Polypodium phegopteris — Craigforda. 
216 



BOTANY. 

Aspidium oreopteris — Ditto. 

Grammitis ceterach- -Crickheath Hill and Treflach Hill, above Porthywaen 

and Blodwel rocks 
Cystea dentata- — On the loose heap of stones below the Tower at Pentregaer ; 

also upon a high wall, at the back of the house, at Broom Hall. 
Hymenophyllum Wilsoni — Upon a rock in a wood at Treflach. 
Osmunda regalis — Maesbury. 
Botrychium lunaria — In the 1st park at Llanforda ; and on the brow of the 

hill between the tower at Pentregaer and Craig-y-Rhu. 
Ophioglossum vulgatum — Fields about Llanforda and Llwynymaen. 
Equisetum limosum- -Morda. 
„ fluviatile— Maesbury. 

MUSCI. 

Dicranum bryoides — Broom Hall lane. 
Bryum palustre — Above Morda pool. 

„ roseum — Wet and shady lanes in the upper part of the Parish. 

,, ligulatum — Ditto. 

. LICHENES. 

Calicium furfur -aceum (Coniocybe Fries) — Upon the hedge bank of the 

Vicar's field on Cyrn-y-bwch. 
Opegrapha chevallieri — rCraigforda. 

,, saxatilis — Ditto. 

Lecanactis lyncea — Llanforda. 
Splicer ophor on coralloides — Craigforda. 

„ b. ccespitosum — Ditto. 

Endocarpon miniatum — Ditto. 

,, Icete-virens — Mynydd-y-myfyr. 

„ rufo-virescens — Craigforda. 

Verrucaria plumbea — Pentregaer, and Craig-y-Rhu. 

,, gemmifera — Craigforda. 

„ umbrosa — Ditto, 

„ codonoidea — Craig-y-Rhu. 

,, immersa — Craigforda. 

,, epipoloea — Treflach, Trefonen, and Craig-y-Rhu. 
Pyrenothea leucocephala — Park Sychant. 
Variolaria conspurcata — Limestone rocks, Craig-y-Rhu. 

,, globulifera — Upon an old ash tree at Craig-y-Rhu. 
Urceolaria calcarea — Limestone rocks, Pentregaer. 
Lecidea morio — Upon the loose stones under the Tower at Pentregaer. 

,, lapicida — Mynydd-y-myfyr. 

„ premnea — Upon an old oak in Middleton lane. 
217 



BOTANY. 

Lecidea griffithsia — Treflach, near Woodhill 

,, aromatica — Wall in Llanforda lane, just under the house. 

,, enteroleuca — The saxicolar form — same habitat as above. 

,, synothea — Upon an old gate-post near Treflach Hall. 

,, immersa — Limestone rocks, Pentregaer. 

„ pruinosa — Wall in the lane below the house at Llanforda. 

„ speirea — Limestone rocks, Pentregaer. 

„ incompta — Elm-trees in the Church-yard at Oswestry ; and upon 
a wych elm at the Hayes. 

„ canescens — Occasionally found about Oswestry; but not common. 

,, quernea — Pentreshanel and Llanforda, 

,, aeruginosa — Upon an old gate-post, Treflach Hall. 

„ quadricolor — Mynydd-y-Myfyr. 

,, rupestris — Limestone rocks, Moelydd, &c. 

„ pineti — Llanforda (scarce). 

„ lutea — Llanforda. 

,, polytropa — Mynydd-y-myfyr. 

,, lucida — Pentreshanel, and other places. 

,, erythrella — Llanforda. 

,, cceruleo — nigricans — Moelydd. 
Lecanora rubra — Craig-y-Rhu (very scarce). 

,, hmmatomma — Craigforda. 

,, crassa — Moelydd and Craig-y-Rhu. 

,, candicans — Pentregaer. 

,, repanda — Pentregaer. 
Parmelia glomulifera — Upon a single tree in Llanforda (2nd Park). 

,, Borreri — Upon oak trees opposite to the house at Woodhill. 

,, conspersa — Craigforda. 

,, pityrea — Upon a decayed oak near Old Port; and upon trees 
opposite to the house at Trafalgar. 

„ aquila — Mynydd-y-myfyr, upon a single isolated piece of rock 
on the south end of the hill. This is a very unusual habitat 
for this plant, which is usually a marine lichen. 

,, ccesia — In fruit; but rarely at Pentregaer and other places. 
Sticta pulmonaria — Pentregaer. 
Collema fragrans — Llanforda and Pentregaer. 

„ ceranoides — Llanforda and Pentregaer. 

„ multipartitum — Moelydd. 

,, marginale — Pentregaer. 

,, tunozforme — Pentregaer. 

„ dermatinum — Pentregaer. 

„ muscicola — Pentreshanel. 
Peltidea scutata — In fruit upon ash trees at Pentregaer. 
218 



BOTANY. 

Peltidea aphthosa — Craigforda ; at the bottom of the wood a little above the 
brook (scarce). 
,, spuria — Upon a hedge bank, near Aston. 
Gyrophora polypliylla — Mynydd-y-myfyr (scarce). 
Borrera furfuracea — Mynydd- y-myfyr. 
Cenomyce ccespititia — Craigforda. 
Cornicularia aculeata — Craigforda. 

CHARACCiE. 

Char a hispida — Ditches above Morda Pool. 

ALG.E. 

Viva calophylla — Walls of Oswestry church ; east end and lower part of 
the wall in the great walk; but not found every year. 
„ crispa — Oswestry church-yard ; and other places about the town. 
Lemania ftuviatilis — In the Morda. 

Zygnema nitidum — In the lane by the cottage at Porkington. 
Batrachospermum moniliforme — In the well at Pen-y-lan ; and in other 

places near the Morda. 
Draparnaldia plumosa-^-In the Morda, below Penylan bridge. 
Meloseira varians — In the Morda, below Craigforda, and below Penylan 

bridge. , 

Fragilaria hyemalis — In the Morda, below Craigforda. 
Diatoma vulgare — In the Morda. 

., flocculosum — In the pool, in the wood, at Llanforda. 
Meridion circulars — In the well at Penylan ; and in a ditch near the Morda, 

above Morda pool. 
Cymbella minor — Penylan mill. 

FUNGI. 

Agaricus rubescens — In the shrubbery at Porkington. 

,, cristatus — Craigforda. 

,, phyllophilus — Craigforda. 

,, laccatus — b. amethystinus — Craigforda. 

,, clavus — Blodwel woods. 

„ galericulatus — Llanforda. 

,, stellatus — Llanforda (rare). 

,, disseminatus — Near the Lawnt. 
Cantharellus cibarius — By the lower pool, at Porkington. 
Dcedalea betulina — In a timber yard at Oswestry. 

Polyporus sulphureus — On the yew trees in the church-yard, at Oswestry; 
but not found every year. 

„ salicinus — On stumps of trees, near Penylan mill. 
219 



BOTANY. 

Polyporus abietinus — On fir poles at Treflach. 

,, scoticus — Llanforda, in the wood above the garden. 
,, incarnatus — Upon broom by the pool in the wood, at Llanforda, 
Fistulina hepatica — Upon a Pollard oak, at Penylan. 
Thelephora purpurea — Llanforda, 
Thelephora quercina — Llanforda. 
,, lactescens — Llanforda, 

,, incrustans — Upon an old felled trunk below Penylan Bridge. 
,, incarnata — On laburnum in the wood, by the pool at Llanforda. 
Clavaria rugosa— Llanforda. 
Peziza reticulata- -~Penjla,n. 

,, aurantia- -\J yon the stump of a tree near Trafalgar. 
„ Jiumosa—V Tpon an old mossy trunk at Llynclys pool. 
, , anomala- - Llanforda. 

,, cyathoidea — On stems of herbaceous plants, Oswestry. 
,, cinerea — On fallen branches, Oswestry. 
Bulgaria sarcoides — On an old stump at Llanforda. 
Exidia glandulosa — Llanforda. 

Ncematelia encephala — On larch and fir rails in Llanforda park (scarce). 
Sclerotium scutellatum — On oak leaves at Llanforda. 
Phallus caninus — On an old stump by the pool, in the wood, at Llanforda 

(scarce). 
Sphceria concentrica — Upon an old ash tree at Maesbury. 

,, multiformis — On rails in Llanforda (first park), and at Craigforda. 
,, nummularia — Upon an ash tree near Penylan bridge. 
,, lata — On dry wood near Penylan mill. 
,, leiphcemia — On dead oak branches, Oswestry. 
,, laburni — On laburnum, Oswestry. 
,, cupularis—On lime branches, Oswestry. 
„ elongata — On broom, Llanforda. 
„ yuccce — On yucca glancescens, Oswestry. 
,, sanguinea — On timber, at Llanforda. 
,, moriformis — On an old tree under the Blodwel rocks. 
,, pulvis-pyrius — Llanforda. 
,, eutypa — On a dead tree near Llwynymaen. 
Phacidium patella — About Oswestry. 

Scleroderma vulgare — Woods at Llanforda and Porkington. 
Lycogala epidendrum — Llanforda. 

Reticularia umbrina — On a decayed larch pole, Oswestry. 
Trichia fallax — Llanforda. 
,, clavata — Llanforda. 
,, turbinata — Llanforda. 
Trichoderma viride — On fallen trees, Oswestry. 
220 



GEOLOGY. 

Tubercularia granulata — On lime branches, Oswestry. 

Torula antennata — On fallen timber, Llanforda. 

Puccinia saxifragarum — On adoxa moschatellina ; lanes about Oswestry. 

Mcidium violce — Mynydd-y-myfyr. 

Uredo seillarum — Llanforda. 

ffieologg, $cu 

The town of Oswestry is situated upon and near the southern 
termination of the North Wales Coal Field, which extends a 
little farther south of the town, and, north-west, through 
Ruabon, Brymbo, Flint, Mostyn, and on to the sea, near the 
Great Ormshead. Running parrellel, and lying at the back, or 
to the west of these coal-measures, is the great belt of moun- 
tain limestone, commencing at Llanymynech Hill, and ex- 
tending also, north-westerly, to the Ormshead, and from thence 
dipping into the sea. 

The metalliferous character of the district is distinguished 
for the production of lead, copper, and zinc. Trials have 
been made for minerals at Treflach Wood, and portions of 
carbonate and sulphuret of copper, of average qualities, have 
been found, but not in sufficient quantities to justify extended 
operations. At Llanymynech Hill both copper and lead, 
sulphurets and carbonates, with carbonate of zinc, or calamine, 
have been raised in large quantities by various companies, 
and occasionally the ores have reached a high per cCntage, 
ranging from five to twenty-five per cent. The ores are 
found in beds or flats, at from thirty to fifty yards from the 
surface, and lying between, and running parallel with, the 
strata of limestone that inclose them. It is an extraordinary 
fact, that the metalliferous belt of limestone abruptly 
terminates at the south end of the hill, and cannot be traced 
farther. Proceeding west, at the back of Oswestry, in Treflach 
Wood, there are some fine beds of Derbyshire marble or 
entrochal limestone, that have been worked for mantle-pieces 
and other ornamental purposes, 
221 



GEOLOGY. 

Trials have been made, and small quantities of lead and 
copper found in this limestone belt, extending to Minera, in- 
cluding the Eglwyseg range which bounds a portion of the 
Vale of Llangollen, near to Ruabon. 

The Minera district is too well known for its rich mineral 
products, especially of lead and zinc, to require particular 
notice, and the same may be said of the Mold, Halkin, and 
Holywell mineral formation, passing on with continued fine 
mineral deposits, to Talargoch, near Prestatyn, in Flintshire. 

The coal-measures in the district of Oswestry abound in 
fossils, Lepidodendrons, Sigillaria, Stigmaria, and Calamites, 
&c. ; and the carboniferous limestone is much more prolific 
of that class of fossiliferous productions which usually accom- 
pany the old mountain limestone. 

The application of capital and scientific labour to mining 
operations, during the last ten years, has given to the district 
an active and business-like character, and brought with it a 
large increase to the working population. At Llanymynech 
Hill, in addition to mining operations, there are annually 
raised about 60,000 tons of limestone, which is chiefly used 
for farming purposes in Montgomeryshire and Shropshire. 
At Porth-y- Waen rocks, in the same range, there is nearly the 
same quantity of limestone raised. The united quantities 
hewn and blasted from these vast limestone rocks produce 
about 70,000 tons of burnt lime, thus showing the extended 
use now made of limestone in the cultivation of farm lands in 
the immediate district. 

The manufacture of iron is most extensively carried on in 
Ruabon parish, principally by the New British Iron Com- 
pany, the quantity of good bar iron made amounting on the 
average to 350 tons per week. These works give employ- 
ment to about 2,500 people, men and boys. The Company 
works its own collieries, and consumes nearly all the coal its 
222 



BIOGRAPHY. 

numerous pits produce. In the same parish there are two 
extensive manufactories, for the conversion of the ores of 
calamine and black jack (carbonate of zinc) into zinc or 
spelter, and at each of these places from twenty to thirty tons 
of these metals are made. 

The coals raised from the coal-fields in and around Oswestry, 
worked by Messrs. Croxon and others, amount to about 40,000 
tons per annum ; whilst nearly 250,000 tons are raised in the 
Ruabon district, and a much larger quantity at Brymbo. 

At Minera a powerful Company is actively engaged in 
working the old mines that produced so much ore during the 
former operations upon them.- These mines were closed from 
the influx of water, and the inadequacy of the machinery then 
employed to carry it off. The present Company have, with 
an enterprising spirit, adopted the highest class of machinery, 
and employed the best mining talent that could be procured. 
By these means, which have called forth the application of at 
least £50,000 to this gigantic undertaking, the Company has 
fortunately succeeded in discovering rich veins of lead-ore, 
which produce from 100 to 150 tons per month. Other 
mining companies are also largely engaged in the district, 
some of which are producing large quantities of lead-ore. 

Oswestry, although not the birth-place of many dis- 
tinguished men, has amongst its present population some 
" choice spirits," men born not, perhaps, to wield " the fierce 
democracy," or to attract the nation's glare by the display of 
brilliant talents, yet who possess the happy art of imparting 
sterling benefits to their fellow-men, and scattering blessings 
all around them. We could point to gentlemen, still honour- 
ably connected with the borough, whose good names must be 
well-deserved, because they have been earned among their 
223 



BIOGRAPHY. 

fellow- citizens. The borough has nevertheless extended 
education to several eminent characters, and been the chosen 
residence of many others. The names of Kenyon, Charles 
W. W. Wynn, West, Parker, Longueville, Lloyd, Donne, and 
Dovaston, are still cherished with grateful recollections, their 
talents and labours having been ably exercised for the social 
benefit and intellectual advancement of the town. 

We subjoin a few sketches of worthies that did the " State 
some service," and whose connection with Oswestry claims for 
them a notice in these pages :— 

Dr. Thomas Bray, an eminently pious and learned divine 
of the 17th century, was educated in Oswestry. He was 
afterwards entered of Hart Hall, Oxford, took his degree of 
Master of Arts there, was chosen by Dr. Compton, Bishop of 
London, to model the infant church at Maryland, and after- 
wards took the degree of Doctor in Divinity. He returned 
from Maryland, after a long and useful residence there, and 
rendered immense service to the cause of foreign missions, 
by his numerous publications and remarkable personal 
exertions. He closed a useful life in 1730, having reached 
the age of seventy-three years. He was born at Marton, in 
Salop. 

John Freeman Milward Dovaston, M.A. — The death of 
this sweet poet, accomplished musician, and profound natur- 
alist, occurred in August, 1854. Mr. Dovaston was not a 
native of Oswestry, but his birth-place (Westfelton) being so 
near to the borough, and his social connexion with it so 
constant and intimate during the whole of his life, that he 
may fairly be ranked among the celebrities of the town. He 
was the only son of John Dovaston, Esq., of " The Nursery," 
at Westfelton, a man also of great natural talents, and who 
was distinguished for his science, learning and ingenuity. 
The subject of our present notice was educated for the Bar, 
224 



BIOGRAPHY. 

but having a dislike for the ^profession, and possessing an 
ample property left by his father, he preferred a life of literary 
leisure, amid the charming scenery in his neighbourhood, to 
the wordy war and the feverish excitement of forensic 
ambition. In his sylvan retreat he sought amusement and 
instruction from the glories of nature so profusely scattered 
around him, and with the pure taste of the poet and philo- 
sopher, found 

"Sermons in stones, 
Tongues in trees, books in running brooks, 
And good in every thing." 

In early life he published a volume entitled " Fitz-Gwarine 
and other poems," to which he made considerable additions 
in later years, He also published an able discourse on Natural 
History, and contributed two lectures on Music and National 
Melody. He was the author of a most interesting sketch of 
Bewick, the clever wood-engraver, whom Mr. Dovaston styled 
"the celebrated xyographer and illustrator of nature;" wrote 
several prologues and epilogues to histrionic performances for 
charitable purposes ; and employed his graceful pen so long 
as Providence gave him mental and bodily strength. For 
several years, however, he was confined to his bed, and died 
at the age of 72 years. His education was commenced at 
Oswestry Free Grammar School, to which Institution he 
reverts, in the pride of his manhood and the fervent inspiration 
of the poet ; and subsequently he was removed to Shrews- 
bury School, where he remained for some years, under the 
able tuition of Dr. Butler, afterwards Bishop of Lichfield. 
Mr. Dovaston's poetic genius led him almost entirely into 
the realms of nature. His ardent fancy revelled amid flowers 
and trees, murmuring rivulets and mountain torrents, or 
roamed among "boxen bowers'* and greenwood shades, 
where no sounds ale heard but the drowsy hum of bees, the 
joyous notes of the mavis or the lark, or the plaintive warb- 
lings of his " bonny robin." His metrical romance of "Fitz- 
.225 Q 



BIOGRAPHY. 

Gwarine" gives evidence of high descriptive power; and his 
Ballad, entitled "Bala Water," will bear comparison with the 
best stanzas of Scott. His works will live in the district in 
which they were written, comprising as they do so many local 
allusions; but had his muse soared to loftier themes, he 
would, in all probability, have transmitted to posterity a name 
which the lovers of song throughout the land would have de- 
lighted to honour. Never having been married, he left a 
considerable property, which is now in the possession of 
his relation, John Dovaston, Esq. 

Guto (y Glyn,) or Griffith, of Glyn, having been elected 
a burgess of Oswestry, is entitled from that distinction, as 
well as from his genius as a poet, to a brief notice. We have 
already. quoted from his quaint description of Oswestry, but 
we shall now give it entire, as it was this production of his 
muse that procured for him the honour of enrolment as a 
burgess of the town. He was a native of Llangollen, and 
domestic bard to the Abbot of Llanegwestl, or Valle Cruris, 
near that town, to whom several of his poems are addressed. 
He is represented as witty and social, and was an acceptable 
guest at the halls of the Welsh nobility and gentry in his 
triennial visitations through the Principality. His gentle 
muse must have been more than ordinarily gracious when he 
poured forth such mellifluous strains as the following, in 
honour of Oswestry :— 

" Oswestry is the liberal, the best endowed of cities : ; 
The beloved of heaven that draws me to it. 
Oswestry the strong fort of conquerors ; the London of Powys ; 
Where the houses are well stored with wine, and the land is rich. 
Its school is celebrated, and its city for preachers and men of science. 
God is present in its beautiful temple — 
A church adorned with rich chalices, 
And with bells and a rich-toned organ. 
No better choir is there from it to Canterbury: 
None in which there is correcter singing, 
Or the habilments more suitable. 
To White Minster I know no convent superior. 
226 



BIOGRAPHY. 

The handsomest and best-dressed women are those of Oswestry. 

It resembles Cheapside in merchandize, 

And its people are honest and unanimous. 

God's grace be with the city, and those that dwell therein ; 

May God be its guardian and kind preserver." 

Humphrey Humphreys, D.D., an eminent prelate, born 
November 24th, 1648, was for some years placed at the Free 
School of Oswestry, under the care of his uncle, Humphrey 
Wyim, A.M., who was master of the school and vicar of the 
parish. Bishop Humphreys was an able Welsh antiquary, 
and wrote some memoirs of eminent Welshmen, in addition 
to those contained in Wood's Athence Oxonienses, printed in 
the last edition of that work, and in the first volume of the 
Cambrian Register. " He was a person of excellent virtues 
during the whole course of his life, and in his latter years of 
a piety so extraordinary, as has but few examples." 

Thomas Jones, son of John Williams, was born in Oswestry, 
and distinguished himself as an able defender of the Protestant 
faith. Having received his early education in his native 
town, he was entered at Jesus College, Oxford, at the com- 
mencement of the rebellion, but he left the University soon 
after, and returned when Oxford was surrendered to the 
Parliament, in 1646. He became Fellow of University 
College, by authority of the parliamentary visitors, in 1648, 
and was remarkably zealous in the republican cause. He 
took the degree of M. A. in the year following, and in 1655 
became rector of Castell Caerinion, in Montgomeryshire, 
where he acquired a knowledge of the Welsh language, to 
serve those parts where the orthodox clergy were rejected. 
His subsequent life was marked by strong zeal against papacy, 
and in an action for slander brought against him by Dr. 
Morley, Bishop of Winchester, whom he charged as a pro- 
moter of popery, he was fined £300, and the rectory of 
Llandyrnog, to which he had been appointed, was sequestered 
for the payment of it. He continued this severe course of 
227 



BIOGRAPHY. 

polemic warfare, and published several other works, amongst 
which, in 1682, " Elymas the Sorcerer ; or a memorial towards 
the discovery of the bottom of this Popish Plot." This 
effusion exposed him to much persecution, and would have 
subjected him to further punishment, had he not escaped by 
his decease, which occurred at Totteridge, Herts, in the same 
year. 

Humphrey Kynaston, surnamed The Wild.-^-This re- 
markable man, whose exploits would furnish skilful romance- 
writers with materials for at least three entertaining volumes, 
was not a native of Oswestry, but as there is a tradition that 
his first wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Meredydd ab Hywel 
ab Morris, of Oswestry, and another that she was Margaret, 
daughter of William Griffith, of Oswestry, called Coch- 
William, or the Red, we have deemed his history worthy of 
brief narration in this volume. Kynaston was son of Sir 
Roger Kynaston, of Hordley, by Elizabeth, daughter of 
Henry Grey, Earl of Tanker ville, by Antigony, daughter of 
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. The enormous debts he 
contracted by his imprudent life and conduct caused him to 
be outlawed, upon which he fled from Middle Castle, his 
usual place of residence, but which he had so neglected that 
it was falling into ruins, and sheltered himself in a cave in 
the western point of NessclifF Rock, called to this day 
Kynastori's Cave. The cave is large, and divided into two 
rooms by a pillar of the rock, upon which is carved " H. K. 
1564." Yorke says of him, that " he was a gentleman of 
many strange pranks, still the talk of the neighbouring 
peasantry. The cave in the rock, at Nesscliff, called Kynas- 
ton's Cave, was the retreat of himself and mad companions. 
He was outlawed the sixth of Henry VII., pardoned the 
next year, and died in 1531." Kynaston's career was brief, 
but his exploits and vagaries within the short period of twelve 
months filled the country round with enthusiastic reports of 
his courage and semi-madness. His horse, somewhat re- 
228 



BIOGRAPHY. 

sembling the notorious Turpin's " Black Bess," seemed to 
have an instinctive knowledge of his master's love of daring 
adventure. Tradition states that this animal was stalled 
in the cave, the ascent to which was by a flight of steps, and 
that when he was grazing in any of the fields below, on 
hearing his master's whistle, he would immediately attend to 
the summons, ascend the steps of the cave, and kneel at 
Humphrey's bidding. Kynaston is represented as no common 
outlaw, and that in all his depredatory warfare he ever re- 
garded a sort of justice, giving freely to the poor, by whom 
he was idolized, a portion of the "black mail*' he had levied 
from the rich. On the road, if he saw a cart with one horse, 
and another with three, he made them equal, by taking the 
fore-horse from the latter and hooking it to the former. Most 
of the adventures ascribed to him seem to have been more 
dictated by whim than a desire of plunder. He had a plentiful 
supply of necessaries from the people around, the rich paying 
him tribute through fear, and the poor from gratitude. 
Kynaston's Horse-leap, a place thus named on Dovaston 
Common, received its name from the following circumstance : 
Kynaston having been observed to go over Montford Bridge 
to Shrewsbury, the Sheriff, intending to take him, caused 
one of the divisions of the bridge (then formed of planks laid 
upon stone pillars,) to be taken up, and placed a number of 
men in ambush. When Kynaston had advanced on the 
bridge, the men came up and blocked up his retreat, upon 
which he put spurs to his horse, which bore him safely over 
the wide breach, and carried him to his cave at Nesscliff ; 
some say the horse leaped into the Severn, and carried him 
across ! The length of this leap was afterwards measured on 
Dovaston Common, with an H cut at one end and a K at the 
other. The letters were an ell long, a spade's graffe wide, and 
a spade deep, and were generally cleansed annually by order 
of Mr. Kynaston, of Kington, as Gough, the historian of 
Middle, informs us. Camden merely mentions Nesscliff and 
its cave, but says not a word about Kynaston. Wild 
229 



BIOGRAPHY. 

Humphrey's adventures were probably much exaggerated by 
the vulgar people of the district, some of whom have not 
scrupled to declare that his leap was forty yards ! Kynaston, 
being a desperate man, would not hesitate much at daring 
feats, but a forty yards' leap is fit only for record in the pages 
of Major Longbow. 

Edward Llwyd, or Lloyd, the celebrated antiquary, 
although not a native of Oswestry, was closely connected with 
it, as he was the natural son of Edward Lloyd, of Llanforda, 
a man of dissolute character, and who, after dissipating his 
estate, died without legitimate issue. Edward Llwyd was 
born in 1660, and at the age of seventeen was entered in 
Jesus College, Oxford. He studied fossils, and became 
under-keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, and in 1680 
succeeded to the head-keeper's place, vacant by the resig- 
nation of his friend and patron. Dr. Plot. In 1704 he took 
the degree of M.A. His researches into the languages, 
histories, and customs of the original inhabitants of Great 
Britain obtained for him a distinguished name ; but the chief 
fruit of his studies and travels was his " Archceologice 
Britannica" of which Baxter, in a letter to Sir Hans Sloane, 
said, " That it was the work of an age, rather than of a few 
years ; that it gave great light to the history and antiquities 
of Britain, and was an honour to his ancient country." He 
was elected Fellow of the Royal Society, and in the following 
year the University gave " proof of the high esteem in which 
it held his extensive learning, by electing him Esquire Beadle 
in Divinity;" but he did not long enjoy the appointment, as 
he died after a few days' illness, in June 1709. His manu- 
script collections, relating to Welsh and Irish antiquities, 
consisted of above forty volumes in folio, ten in quarto, and 
upwards of one hundred of smaller sizes. They were ulti- 
mately sold to Sir Thomas Seabright, of Beachwood, Herts, 
and were afterwards purchased from Sir John Seabright, part 
by the late Thomas Johnes, Esq., of Hafod, and the other 
230 



BIOGRAPHY. 

part by the late Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart., of Wynnstay. 
Some years afterwards, Mr. Johnes' portion of these literary 
treasures were consumed in a destructive fire that broke out 
at his elegant mansion, and a similar fate befel the more 
valuable of the Wynnstay portion, they having been consumed 
in a fire which occurred on the premises of a bookbinder in 
Covent-garden, London, where they had been sent for the 
purpose of being bound. 

William Maurice, of Cefn-y-B raich, and Hugh Morus, 
the Bard of Ceiriog. — -These two able men, although not 
Oswestrians, were so closely connected with the town, as natives 
of the neighbouring parish of Llansilin, that a few words on 
their biography will not be misplaced. Mr. Maurice was an 
eminent antiquary, and the industrious collector of the library 
of manuscripts now in the Wynnstay library. He was de- 
scended from Lowri, sister of Owen Glyndwr, and what is 
singularly coincident, - he married Letitia, a descendant of 
Glyndwr's successful opponent, Henry Bolingbroke. She 
was a Kynaston, of Morton, descended from the Greys of 
Powys, and the Greys from Ah tigony^ daughter of Humphrey, 
Duke of Gloucester, fourth son of Henry IV. William 
Maurice was so devoted to Welsh literature, that he erected 
close to his house, at Cefn-y-Braich, a building three stories 
in height, for his library. It was called "The Study," but 
has long since been in ruins. Mr. Walter Davies says of it, 
"From what I recollect of it, and of a print in an old Oxford 
almanack of 'Friar Bacon's Study,' in that university, I judge 
the one to have been a fac simile of the other." This assiduous 
antiquary died from about 1680 to 1690. 

Hugh Morus, the Poet, as he is emphatically called, be- 
cause he excelled all others in the smooth and flowing awen, 
or song-writing, was born at Pont-y-Meibion, in the Vale of 
Geiriog, in the year 1622. He died in 1709, at the advanced 
231 



BIOGRAPHY. 

age of 87 years, as appears from his tomb-stone in Llansilin 
church-yard having lived in six reigns, exclusive of the 
commonwealth. His songs, carols, &c, hundreds in number 
show his fertile genius, and many of his productions are 
marked by wit, irony, fun, satire, and high poetic beauty. 
He was a frequent visitor at Porkington and Chirk Castle, 
and always a welcome guest. 

Mr. John Reynolds. — This gentleman, a native of 
Oswestry, was a nephew of Mr. John Davies, of Rhiwlas, 
Denbighshire, author of a small work entitled " Heraldry 
Displayed." After his uncle's death he published a Book of 
Pedigrees, from Mr. Davies's manuscript, in the quarto form. 

The Rev. Peter Roberts, A. M., an able writer on Welsh 
history, resided in Oswestry for some time. He was born at 
Rhuabon, Denbighshire, in 1760, and in 1810 was presented 
to the living of Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog. He was pre- 
vented by the delicate state of his health from residing on his 
living for more than a few of the summer months, his regular 
home being in the town of Oswestry, where he was generally 
respected for his literary talents and private worth. In 1814 
the freedom of the borough was presented in full assembly to 
Mr. Roberts, as "Author of numerous and extensive publi- 
cations," "for his deep and laborious researches of ancient 
records," and "in consideration of his profound learning." 
Astronomy and the Oriental languages were his favourite 
studies in the early part of his life, and he had aspired to the 
Astronomical Chair in Trinity College, Dublin, as successor 
to the celebrated Archbishop Usher, whose friendship and 
regard he had long possessed. The illustration of his native 
language, and of the ancient history of the Cymry, afterwards 
deeply engaged his attention, and to the discussion of these 
subjects he brought such powers of mind, united with such 
multifarious learning, that he reminded his contemporaries of 
the gigantic power of the renowned Edward .Llwyd, and 
232 



BIOGRAPHY. 

justly entitled himself to the high eulogium of Bishop Hors- 
ley, who declared "there was only one Peter Roberts in the 
world." He closed his earthly career at Halkin, Flintshire, 
in 1821, whilst administering relief to a poor parishioner; he 
was seized with apoplexy, and died in a few hours afterwards. 
His published works were numerous and able. In the list 
we find "Christianity vindicated, in a series of letters to Mr. 
Volney ;" "Harmony of the Epistles;" "an essay on the 
Origin of the Constellations;" "Art of Universal Corre- 
spondence;" A Sketch of the Early History of the Cymry 
or Ancient Britons;" "Review of the Policy and Peculiar 
Doctrines of the Church of Rome ;" "Manual of Prophecy;" 
"Collectanea Cambrica;" "Letter to Dr. Milner, on the 
supposed miracle at St. Winifred's Well;" "Cambrian 
Popular Antiquities," &c. 



"Dick Spot." — A man figuring under this patronymic, 
but whose real name was Edward Morris, flourished at 
Oswestry some years ago. He was celebrated as a conjuror 
or professor of legerdemain, and pursued his tricks with such 
marvellous success that the name of "Dick Spot " was 
popular among the humbler classes throughout the district. 
He professed to tell a love-sick damsel who was to be her 
husband; to detect thieves by turning a key upon the Bible ; 
and by other "craft and subtlety" inspired his credulous 
visitors with hopes of coming grandeur and overflowing 
fortunes, &c. At length death arrested Morris in his de- 
ceptive career, and his remains were consigned to the earth 
in Oswestry Church-yard. Hulbert, in a notice of Oswestry, 
in his "History of the County," refers to Dick Spot's career, 
and says, "On requesting an eccentric but ingenious inhabi- 
tant, now one of the Churchwardens, to furnish me with some 
particulars of a pamphlet said to be the Life of Dick Spot, 
he thus replied, — 'I know not who has got his life, but this 
I know, that I am in possession of his mortal remains in 
233 



BIOGRAPHY. 

Oswestry Church-yard, having purchased the spot of earth 
which contained them, from his grand- daughter. His skull, 
which I had in my hand the other day, was treated with very 
little respect by the Hamlet-like grave digger.' If poor 
Morris had been blessed with the gift of foresight, he certainly 
would have directed that his mortal remains should be de- 
posited in a more secure place of sepulture.'" Who the 
eccentric Churchwarden was the historian does not inform us. 
We are half inclined to believe that his grave discovery was a 
hoax, a species of pleasantry, somewhat resembling what is 
called "Bolton Trotting," and which two or three well-known - 
wags were wont to indulge in, many years ago, occasionally 
with thoughtless imprudence and merciless severity. , 

Mr. Robert Salter.' — This gentleman's family had for 
centuries been connected with Oswestry, the name of "Salter" 
being recorded in civic documents of very ancient date. He 
was author of a piscatorial work, entitled "The Modern 
Angler," a brochure, written in a series of letters to a disciple of 
Isaac Walton, and evidencing a thoroughly-practical acquain- 
tance with the art of angling. It was published in 1811. 
Like that celebrated lover of the finny tribes, he looks upon 
his favourite recreation with the warmest enthusiasm of his 
craft, and quotes Walton's refreshing picture of some of the 
angler's joys on closing a long day's sport. Safely landed 
at some "friendly cottage, where the landlady is good, and 
the daughter innocent and beautiful : where the room is 
cleanly, with lavender in the sheets, and twenty ballads 
stuck about the wall ; there he can enjoy the company of a 
talkative brother sportsman, have his trouts dressed for his 
supper, tell tales, sing old tunes, or make a catch. There he 
can talk of the wonders of nature, with learned admiration, 
or find some harmless sport to content him, and pass away a 
little time, without offence to God, or injury to man." Mr. 
Salter's Letters are worthy of re-publication.. 
234. 



Mntalnlk 



The use of coaches was introduced into England by Fitz- 
Alan, Earl of Arundel, in the year 1580. At first they were 
drawn only by two horses, but about the year 1619 six horses 
were used by the notorious Duke of Buckingham. 

The Duke of Powis visited Oswestry in the Mayoralty of 
Robert Barkley, Esq. (1737), in whose accounts are the 
following items : — " Aug. 8th — Paid Mrs. Sarah Evans' bill 
for wine, for his grace the Duke of Powis, at the Town Hall, 
13s. 3d. ; paid John James, for drink to a bonfire when his 
grace the Duke of Powis was at the Town Hall, 2s. 6d !" 

Oswestry Association, for the prosecution of felons, formed 
Dec. 14th, 1771. by John Lloyd, Esq., Solicitor. First 
Treasurer, Mr. Edward Browne. Mr. Lloyd was the original 
institutor of societies for the prosecution of felons. 

Races re-commenced September 1802, under the patronage 
of Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart., after being discontinued 17 years. 

The foundation of Castle Buildings was laid February 
1803. 

The first Sheriff's Court held at Oswestry, on Friday, 
June 20th, 1804. 

Stage-coach first established from Shrewsbury, through 
Oswestry to Holyhead, by Mr. Robert Lawrence, of Shrews- 
bury. 

The Holyhead and London mail-coach first ran through 
Oswestry, instead of Chester, 6th September, 1808, when 
great rejoicings took place ; a saving of 22 miles was effected 
in the journey by this change. 

Act of Parliament passed in 1809, for paving, cleansing, 
lighting, watching, and otherwise improving the streets, and 
other public passages and places within the borough. 
235 



NOTABILIA. 

In 1809 Charles Williams Wynn, Esq., Recorder of 
Oswestry, received the thanks of the Corporation and in- 
habitants of the borough, for voting independently in the case 
of the late Duke of York, and for his strict attention to his 
parliamentary duties. A piece of plate, of the value of £60, 
was presented to him at the same time. 

From 1811 to 1814 about three hundred French prisoners 
of war (military and naval) on parol in Oswestry. They 
were in the service of Napoleon Bonaparte, and consisted of 
French, Germans, Spaniards, Dutchmen, Poles, &c. Among 
them were the Prince D'Aremberg, General Phillipon (who 
broke his parol), and other officers of distinction. 

In 1812 a Grand Musical Festival was held in the Parish 
Church, on occasion of the opening of the New Organ. The 
Messiah was performed with great eclat in the church, and a 
Miscellaneous Concert was given in the Theatre. 

In 1814 the freedom of the borough was presented in full 
corporative assembly to John Freeman Milward Dovaston, 
Esq., A.M., of West Felton, author of Fitz-Gwarine, and 
other beautiful poems, "as a mark of their respect and ad- 
miration of his very pleasing poetic talents, and taste for 
elegant literature." 

The New Gaol finished in 1816. 

Monday, January 6th, 1817, The Archduke Nicholas, of 
Russia (the late Emperor), passed through Oswestry from 
Wynnstay, on his way to Powis Castle. 

William Ormsby Gore, Esq., High Sheriff of the County 
in 1817. 

The New Burial Ground (formerly Vicar's Croft), conse- 
crated by the Bishop of St. Asaph (Dr. Luxmoore), October, 
1817. 

236 



NOTABILIA. 

Oswestry Herald Newspaper first published by the author 
of this book, March 21st, 1820, and discontinued Tuesday, 
Dec. 31st, 1822. In those days the newspaper stamp-duty 
was 4d., and advertisement-duty 3s. 6d. on each advertise- 
ment. The newspaper was swamped by excessive taxation. 

February 14th, 1820, the Mayor and Corporation of the 
borough proclaimed the accession of George IV. to the 
throne. 

The celebrated Mile Oak Tree felled Monday, May 20th , 
1824. The girth of the lower part of the tree, 16 J feet ; the 
largest branch, 5 feet 10 inches in circumference ; length of 
the tree, 57 feet. 

Evening Lectures commenced June 20th, 1824, in Oswestry 
Church, by the Revi Thomas Salwey, Vicar of the Parish. 

The Church and Burial-ground at Trefonen consecrated 
by the Bishop of St. Asaph, on Wednesday, January 
17th, 1825, and service commenced on Sunday morning, 
January 24th, by the Rev. John Hughes. 

The Chancel and new entrance-door to the Parish Church, 
from Church-street, finished in 1831. 

Our present Gracious Sovereign, when Princess Victoria, 
on her way from Powis Castle, visited Oswestry, with her illus- 
trious mother, the Duchess of Kent,in September, 1832. The 
royal visitors were received at Croes-wylan gate by the High 
Steward (the Hon. Thos. Kenyon), the Deputy-Mayor, the 
Coroner, and other members of the Corporation, in their robes, 
and a large number of the gentry and tradesmen of the town 
bearing white wands. The Princess and her mother did not 
alight from their carriage, but merely changed horses at the 
Wynnstay Arms. During this short stay Mr. Kenyon con- 
gratulated the royal visitors in the name of the Corporation, 
and was commanded by the Duchess of Kent to inform the 
237 



NOTABILIA. 

" good people of Oswestry " of the " very great satisfaction 
she felt at the manner in which she was received by the in- 
habitants of the town and neighbourhood, and that she felt 
obliged by their loyal and affectionate feeling manifested 
towards herself and the Princess Victoria." The Corporation 
and gentlemen conducted the cavalcade to the Beatrice Gate, 
and the Oswestry squadron of North Shropshire Cavalry, 
under the command of Captain Croxon, escorted the royal 
party to Chirk Bridge. Here they were met by Sir W. W. 
Wynn, Bart., and a detachment of the Denbighshire Cavalry. 
Captain Croxon having been introduced to the Princess and 
Duchess, and received their thanks, the royal party proceeded 
onward to Wynnstay. 

A new Church Clock put up, by subscription, April, 1836. 

The first Writ of Enquiry from the Court of Queen's 
Bench, Pierce v. Foulkes, was tried at Oswestry, December 
5th, 1837. 

A Vestry held 15th July, 1842, to assess a church-rate. 
Objections raised against the Organist's salary, which, upon 
vote, was rejected by a majority of Jive. The following 
Sunday the organ was not played, nor was there any singing! 

November 2nd, 1842, Prince Ferdinand of Austria passed 
through OsWestry. 

In 1846 the Corporation of Oswestry, assisted by the 
inhabitants of the borough, and the gentry of the neighbour- 
hood, entered into a subscription to present to the Recorder 
(J. R. Kenyon, Esq.,) a piece of plate, on his marriage, as a 
testimonial of their regard and esteem. The plate consisted 
of a salver of chaste and elegant workmanship, weighing 
upwards of 164oz., and measuring across twenty-four inches. 
The inscription in the centre was as follows : — (Surmounted by 
the Arms of Oswestry). " To John Robert Kenyon, D.C.L., 
238 



NOTABILIA. 

on his marriage,*from the Corporation and inhabitants of the 
town of Oswestry, in testimony of the deep respect in which 
he is held as Recorder of the borough, and the grateful 
feelings entertained for his liberal support of the different 
charitable institutions connected with the town." — (The 
Family Arms below.) 

Oswestry is 450 feet above the level of the sea, and 254 
feet higher than the Shrewsbury meadows. Shrewsbury is 
196 feet above the level of the sea. 

The following heights of places above the sea, either near 
or in sight of the Great Western Railway (Birmingham, 
Shrewsbury, and Chester Sections,) taken by the Rev. T. E. 
Evans, of Trinity College, Cambridge, are "facts worth 
knowing:" — Hawkstone, 834 feet ; Grinshill, 696; Nessc'iff, 
630; Llanymynech church, 246 ; Breiddin, 1,236 ; Wrekin, 
1,494 ; Cyrn Moelfre, 1,746.; Cader Ferwyn, 2,826; Cern- 
y-Bwcb, 1,206. By Mr. Murchison : — Oswestry, 460 ; 
plan of Shrewsbury, 97; surface of the Ellesmere canal under 
'Heathhouse bridge, 260 feet. The canal at Chirk is the 
height of two locks more than the canal near Whittington. 
Allowing 24 feet for the rise, it would make the surface of the 
.canal at Chirk, 334 feet. 

The late Rev. Walter Davies, rector of Manafon, in his 
Historical notice of Llansilin, published in the first volume 
of the Cambro-Briton, says, "In 1699 there was a well in 
the parish of Oswestry, called Ffynnon Maen Tysilio, where 
the inhabitants resorted to celebrate their annual Wake. 

Oswestry Show, long since discontinued, was generally 
held on the first Thursday after Trinity Sunday. As a 
pageant it bore no comparison with Shrewsbury Show. The 
incorporated companies of the town walked in procession, 
preceded with flags, bands of music, &c. 
239 



NOTABILIA. 

"There was formerly," says the Oswestry Herald, "a eastle 
at Maesbury, in that township, as we find from Domesday 
Book. Rainald the Sheriff (all whose estates devolved on 
the Fitz- Alans,) held Maesburie under Roger et ibi fecit 
Rainaldus Castellum Lvvre." No mention of this castle is 
made by Pennant, Bingley, or any subsequent historian or 
tourist. 



Poor iftate fortunu 

OSWESTRY TOWN AND PARISH (1855.) 



Town and Parish. 



Oswestry Town & Liberties. 
Ditto Parish 



Acreage. 



A. R. P. 

1753 2 24 



13911 1 31 



Gross Rental, 



£ s. D. 
16604 18 6 

22280 



Rateable value 

assessed to 

the Relief of 

poor. 



£ S. D. 

14933 13 
20052 10 3 



SKETCHES 



€ty Ctramras nf (Dsmestq. 



gJ^SuFFiciENT has been said in these pages to justify much 
fgjjiyi more extended notices than we can give to the ancient 
castles, fine old mansions, and modern residences of wealthy- 
proprietors in this neighbourhood, imparting as they do so 
much additional beauty and interest to the bold and pictu- 
resque natural scenery in the midst of which they are so 
tastefully situated. Oswestry, as we have already described, 
is not only a pretty town, but historically curious ; anf the 
charms of nature and art surrounding it render it still .lore 
worthy of admiration. "We append brief descriptions of 
neighbouring places, all fixed near the Border Lands of 
England and Wales, whose history teems with glowing nar- 
ratives of embattled hosts, of fierce chieftains in bright array, 
and of minstrels famed 

"In Cambria's noon of story, 
Ere bright she set in glory! " 

Almost every nook and corner has its historic tale, its love or 
war-song, or its tradition. These remains of ancient times 
and deeds of bravery, with natural beauties superadded, — 
mountains, valleys, and rivers, of surpassing loveliness, have 
241 R 



ASTON HALL. 

invested the Environs of Oswestry with an enduring interest 
with which few, if any other towns in the kingdom, can vie. 
Our District Sketches, being arranged alphabetically, will 
commence with 

ASTON HALL, 

The seat of Mrs. Lloyd, widow of the late William Lloyd, Esq. 
It is situated on the right of the turnpike-road from Oswestry 
to Shrewsbury, about two miles distant from the former. 
The highly-respected family who have for so many years 
occupied this beautiful estate are of great antiquity, having 
descended from Einion, Prince of part of Powys, who dis- 
tinguished himself in the wars against Henry I. Yorke, in his 
"Royal Tribes of Wales" writing in 1799, has furnished a 
copious notice of the house of Aston. "The Lloyds/' he 
says, "are descended from Einion. The heiress of the 
house, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Lloyd, married Fbulke 
Lloyd, of Fox Hall, or the hall of Foulke, and was great 
grandmother to the Rev. John Robert Lloyd, Rector of 
Whittington and Selattyn, both in his advowson, the present 
possessor of Aston. The name of the Fox Hall family was 
Rosindale, when they came first from the north. To a younger 
branch, settled at Denbigh, we owe our learned countryman, 
Humphrey Llwyd. He was of Brazen-nose, Oxford, studied 
physic, and lived as family physician in the house of the last 
Earl of Arundel, of the name of Fitz-Alan, the Chancellor 
of the University. He sat in Parliament for his native town 
of Denbigh, and died there in the forty-first year of his age, 
and was buried in the Parish Church with a coarse monument, 
a dry epitaph, and a psalm-tune under it. He collected many 
curious books for Lord Lumley (whose sister he married), 
which form at this time a valuable part of the Library in the 
British Museum. One of his sons was settled at Cheam, in 
Surrey, whose great grandson, Robert Lloyd, was Rector of 
St. Paul's, Covent Garden, and contended, but without effect, 
for the Barony of Lumley." 
242 



CHIRK CASTLE. 

Trevor, of Brynkinalt, Speaker of the House of Commons 
in England, and first Lord Commissioner of the Great Seal, 
assumed the name and arms of Trevor, and was created, April 
27th, 1765, Viscount Dungannon." An interesting fact 
connected with this noble family is, that the mother of the 
Duke of Wellington, the "Hero of a hundred fights," was 
Anne, Countess of Mornington, daughter of Arthur Hill, the 
first Viscount Dungannon. This illustrious lady was closely 
allied with two greatly-distinguished men: her husband, the 
Earl of Mornington, ranked high as a musical composer, and 
w the Duke," her son, placed himself high on the roll of fame 
with conquerors of ancient and modern renown. 

The present Viscount Dungannon takes much interest in 
archaeological pursuits, and is author of an ably-written work, 
in two volumes, 8vo., entitled "The Life and Times of William 
the Third, King of England, and Stadtholder of Holland." 
His Lordship has acquired the literary distinctions of M.A., 
F. A. S., and M. R. S. L., and is an active magistrate for the 
district in which he resides. He has large possessions in the 
north of Ireland, in which he takes much interest. 

CHIRK CASTLE, 

The noble residence of Colonel Myddelton Biddulph, is situated 
near to Chirk, on elevated ground on the Berwyn range of 
hills, commanding delightful views of the surrounding scenery. 
It is a bold castellated mansion, built of grey stone, partly 
mantled with ivy, and is supposed to have been erected on 
the site of an ancient fortress called by the Welsh Castell 
Crogen, near which, as is recorded, the celebrated Battle of 
Crogen took place in 1164, when the Welsh fought with 
more than their usual bravery against Henry II., for the re- 
covery of their independence. The present castle was built 
in the reign of Edward I. by Roger Mortimer, son of Roger, 
Baron of Wigmore, to whom the king had granted the united 

lordship of Chirk and Nanheudwy. 
244 



q- 



01 



i!|;i';! ! !l illlnli il : llli i! !|| 

talii. ip 













fih 



49 



CHIRK CASTLE. 

The Castle continued in the hands of the Mortimer family 
but a short period, it being sold by John, grandson of Roger 
Mortimer, to Richard Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, whose 
family possessed it for three generations. It afterwards passed 
to Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk and Justice of North 
Wales, Chester, and Flint, in right of his wife, Elizabeth, 
eldest sister to Thomas, Earl of Arundel. It then devolved 
upon the Beauchamp and Neville families, and afterwards 
became the property of Sir William Stanley, together with 
Holt Castle. Henry VIII. bestowed it upon his natural son, 
Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset; in the 
following reign it was granted to Thomas, Lord Seymour, 
brother to the Protector Somerset. Queen Elizabeth granted 
it to her favourite Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and on his death 
it became the property of Lord St. John, of Bletso, whose 
-son, in 1595, sold it to Sir Thomas Myddelton, Knight, Lord 
Mayor of London, in a branch of whose family it still remains. 

It is stated that the erection of the Castle was begun 
in 1011, and finished in 1013. The building partakes 
both of the castle and mansion, the form quadrangular, 
the angles being strengthened with bastion-like towers, 
each surmounted by a small turret. The principal en- 
trance, through a fifth massive arched tower, is at the north 
front, leading into a court-yard 160 feet long by 100 broad. 
Around this are ranged the different apartments, and the east 
side is ornamented by a handsome colonnaded piazza. The 
north and east wings are occupied by the family, and the 
south and west given up to the offices. The most remark- 
able of the apartments are, a saloon of sixty feet by thirty, 
lighted by three large mullioned windows looking towards 
the court ; a drawing-room thirty feet square ; and an oak 
gallery, extending the whole length of the west wing, one 
hundred feet by twenty-two, leading to the chapel. The 
ceilings throughout are ornamented by rich plaster work, and 
the rooms display a large collection of paintings. Among 
245 



CHIRK CASTLE. 

the portraits are those of the Myddelton family, Sir Orlando 
Bridgeman, the Duke of Ormond, and his son Lord Ossory, 
the Countess of Warwick, daughter of the fourth Sir Thomas 
Myddelton, and afterwards wife to the celebrated Addison, 
author of the " Spectator" and other classic writings. Among 
the landscapes there is a view of the admired water-fall, Pistill 
Rhaiadr, in Montgomeryshire, represented as falling into the 
sea. Of this work of art a pleasant story is told. The artist 
employed in taking the view was a foreigner, to whom it was 
hinted, when he had nearly finished the picture, that the 
addition of a few sheep would add to the effect. The painter 
replied, "you want some she eps in it. O! O! ver veil. I 
vill put you some sheeps in it." He then introduced the sea, 
and with it several ships ! The picture being thus ludicrously 
transformed, it was allowed to remain in its altered state as 
an artistic curiosity ; and the visitor when inspecting it is sure 
to have his risible muscles disturbed by so droll a metamor- 
phosis. The gallery contains several old cabinets, the work 
probably of Italian or French Artists ; one, an exceedingly 
handsome one, a gift from Charles II. to the brave Sir 
Thomas Myddelton. 

The history of the Myddelton family is one of national 
interest. There were four Sir Thomas Myddeltons at Chirk 
Castle, the two former knights, and the two latter baronets. 
The first Sir Thomas was Lord Mayor of London when his 
brother, the celebrated Hugh Myddelton, was knighted for 
bringing the new river into the Metropolis. The second Sir 
Thomas served in Parliament for the county of Denbigh, and 
took arms in its support when he was fifty-seven years old. 
For his services at Oswestry, Montgomery, and Holt, in 
1643-4, he received the thanks of Parliament through the 
Speaker. When he engaged in the service of the Parliament 
his own castle became garrisoned forthe king, and the veteran 
knight was compelled to besiege it with all his force. It re- 
mained, however, in the hands of the royalists till February 
246 



CHIRK CASTLE. 

1646, when Sir John Watts, the governor, quitted it, and was 
captured, with his men, at Churchstoke, Montgomeryshire. 
Sir Thomas Myddelton, some ten years afterwards, abandoned 
the parliamentary cause, and took up arms with Sir George 
Booth, a Cheshire general, to restore the monarchy, and place 
Charles II. on the throne. The royalists were fewinnumber, 
and easily defeated, by Lambert, who retook Chester, and 
made Sir George Booth prisoner. He then laid siege to 
Chirk Castle, which, after a sharp resistance, was surrendered 
by Sir Thomas Myddelton, who deemed it useless, he said, to 
oppose the whole kingdom. A resolution was passed in 
parliament, authorizing Lambert to demolish the Castle $ but, 
Cromwell dying the same year, the threatened destruction did 
not take place. The damage and loss sustained at Chirk 
Castle, during the usurpation, are said to have amounted to 
£130,000. Such was the reward which the veteran Sir 
Thomas Myddelton received for his patriotism. His fate 
resembled that of his co-patriot, Major-General Mytton, but 
was somewhat more disastrous. 

Sir Thomas's son, of the same name, was made a baronet at 
the Restoration. The son died in 1663, his father surviving 
him three years, when he died at the age of 80 years. His 
grandson, the fourth Sir Thomas, and the second baronet, 
married twice. By his second wife, Charlotte, daughter of 
the Lord-Keeper Bridgeman, he had an only daughter, Char- 
lotte, who married first to the Earl of Warwick, and secondly 
to Addison, as already mentioned. Their daughter, Miss 
Addison, died unmarried. The baronetage became extinct 
at the death of Sir William, son of Sir Richard, brother to 
the last Sir Thomas, Sir William having died unmarried in 
1718. The estate, by the entailment, came to Robert 
Myddelton, eldest son of Richard, the third son of Sir Thomas, 
the soldier. He, dying without issue, was succeeded by his 
brother John, father of Richard, father of Richard Myddelton, 
Esq., for many years M.P. for the Denbigh boroughs, who died 
247 



CHIRK CASTLE. 

unmarried in 1796. The estate was afterwards divided among 
his three sisters. The eldest, Mrs. Myddelton Biddulph, had 
for her share Chirk Castle and its domain, and it is now in 
the possession, as before stated, of her son, Col. Myddelton 
Biddulph. The second sister, Maria, who married the Hon. 
Frederick West, brother of the late Earl of Delawarr, had for 
her portion the property in Llangollen, Rhuabon, Wrexham, 
and Holt. The third sister had for her portion Ruthin Castle 
with its demesnes, and died unmarried ; her property, with 
that of the Hon. F. West, came into possession of his son, 
Frederick Richard West, Esq., M.P. for the Denbigh Boroughs, 
who now resides at Ruthin Castle, a portion of which has 
been re- built, and the whole greatly embellished under his 
tasteful superintendence. 

Chirk Castle is among the most interesting and oldest-in- 
habited feudal buildings in the kingdom. Its 

"Towers, unmodernized by tasteless art, remain 
Still unsubdued by time." 

The family have hitherto protected it from injury, as 
it has been repaired with care and skill where much decay or 
damage had presented itself, but in no degree to impair its 
original character. Within the last few years considerable 
improvements and alterations have been made in it, under 
the direction and superintendence of the late Mr. Pugin. 
The lower apartments are of the pure gothic of the fifteenth 
century. The large rooms are in the style of Francois the 
First. The bed in which Charles I. slept when he visited 
Chirk Castle, in his " utmost need," in 1646, is still shown in 
a room adjoining the gallery. The south-west wing has un- 
dergone little if any alteration by modern art, and there may 
still be traced the architecture of the period in which the 
fortress was erected. 

The large estate surrounding the Castle has been much 
improved by Col. Myddelton Biddulph ; the grounds and 
248 



HALSTON. 

noble trees that ornament it are kept in excellent order, and the 
farms upon the property are all in a flourishing and healthy 
condition. 

Col. Myddelton Biddulph is Lord Lieutenant of the county 
of Denbigh, and representative also for the shire. 

HALSTON, 

The seat of Edmund Wright, Esq., was for several centuries 
the property of the Myttons. It is situated within a mile of 
Whittington, on the Oswestry and Eilesmere turnpike road. 
It is called in ancient deeds Haly-stone or Holy-stone. Near 
the house stood the abbey, taken down about a century and 
a half ago. The Rev. Peter Roberts says, " That it had 
been a sanctuary is evident. Meyric Lloyd, lord of some 
part of Uwch Ales, in the reign of Richard I., would not yield 
subjection to the English Government, under which the 
Hundred of Dyffryn Clwyd and several others were then, 
and having taken some English officers that came there to 
execute the law, (which was contrary to the customs of the 
Britons,) hanged some and killed others. For this act 
he forfeited his lands to the king, fled, and took sanctuary 
at Halston, where (for his notable enterprises and merited 
chivalry,) he was taken under the protection of its possessor, 
John Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, 'who made him general of 
the army in the besieging of Aeon, in Asia, anno dom. 1190, 
where he behaved himself,' as Reynolds informs us, ' with 
such dexterous attempts as were admirable to the spectators." ' 
[See his exploits further recorded in our notice of "Llanforda."] 

In the Saxon era the Lordship of Halston belonged to 
Edric, at which time there were on the property two Welsh- 
men and one Frenchman. After the Conquest Halston 
became the property of an Earl of Arundel, or of Robert, 
Earl of Shrewsbury, and was afterwards bestowed on the 
Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. In the 26th Henry VIII. 
the commandry was valued at £160 14s. lOd. a year. On 
249 



HALSTON. 

the abolition of many of the military-religious orders and 
monasteries, Henry empowered John Sewster, Esq., Scutifer, 
and afterwards allowed him to dispose of this manor to Alan 
Horde, who made an exchange with, or sold it to Edward 
Mytton, Esq., of Habberly, ancestor to the present John 
Mytton, Esq. This alienation was subsequently confirmed 
by Queen Elizabeth. 

In a manuscript account of Halston, written in 1821 by the 
late Rev. C. A. A. Lloyd, we find the following description : — 
"The Manor of Halston is extra-parochial. The Mansion- 
house of Halston was formerly situated near the chapel, but 
in the year 1690 it was removed to its present situation, which 
is on an elevated spot of ground rising out of an extensive 
flat, and formerly subject to frequent floods. The grand- 
father of the present owner (the late John Mytton, Esq.,) 
was a gentleman of great spirit and enterprise, and at con- 
siderable trouble and expense drained vast tracts of the low 
ground, which rendered the neighbourhood more healthy. 
The river Perry here forms several islands, and its shores are 
shaded by oaks, perhaps the finest in the country." After 
describing the pictures and books at Halston at the time he 
was writing, he adds, " Mr. W. Mytton was engaged for many 
years in collecting materials for aJHistory of the County, but 
unfortunately died before he arranged them. Among the 
collection is a manuscript copy of the History of the County, 
by Mr. E. Lloyd, of Trenewydd, which Mr. Pennant, by 
some blunder, mistook for Mr. Mytton's." 

The Chapel of Halston is a donative, without any other 
revenue than what the chaplain is allowed by the owner, and 
is of exempt jurisdiction. 

The Mytton family are of great antiquity, and their con- 
nection with Shrewsbury is of remote date. The late John 
Mytton, Esq., sold, among other property belonging to him 
in that town, a field called the " Chapel Yard," on Coton 
250 



HALSTON. 

Hill. When Leland visited Shrewsbury the Myttons lived 
on Coton Hill. In the bailiff's accounts for a year from 
Michaelmas, 2nd Richard III., among rents in decasu (in 
decay) is one " Procapella de Coton Thome Mytton," the 
sum defaced ; and his descendant Thomas Mytton, Esq., was 
rated for it to the poor as late as 1686. Major-General 
Thomas Mytton, the great parliamentary commander in the 
Civil Wars, was a descendant of the Myttons of Shrewsbury. 
Halston was his birth-place, and he resided there for many 
years. He was a zealous and untiring leader of the parlia- 
ment forces under the Commonwealth, and gave his days and 
nights to the Protector's cause ; but he lived long enough to 
realize the truth of the poet's exclamation, 

"How wretched is the man that hangs on Princes' favours !" 

He saw men of inferior talent, but ostentatious in profession, 
placed over him in rank, and had to suffer the penalty which 
many others paid for their attachment to Cromwell — the 
neglect and indifference of the party whom he had so long 
delighted to serve, and the favour of the Protector extended 
to sycophants and flatterers. 

The late John Mytton, Esq., was the last member but one 
of the family who possessed the Halston estates. This un- 
fortunate gentleman passed a brief life in folly and dissipation,, 
and closed his existence with an unenviable notoriety. On 
reaching his majority he found himself the owner of immense 
wealth, in money and landed property. Under pernicious in- 
fluences he plunged into extravagance, recklessly squandered 
away his patrimony, and in a few years became the inmate of 
a gaol, 

" Deserted at his utmost need, 
By those his former bounty fed." 

He drew his last breath within the gloomy walls of a prison, 
at the early age of thirty-eight, and was interred, with his 
ancestors, in the burial-ground at Halston Chapel. 
251 



HALSTON. 

It is painful to advert to so lamentable a career and so dis- 
tressing an end. But, whilst, we point to Mr. Mytton's 
ruinous habits, we cannot withhold the acknowledgment that 
he had redeeming qualities. Like most men of his pursuits, 
he often found the means he possessed too limited for his own 
wants ; yet occasionally he would perform noble and generous 
deeds, that might be classed with the purest benevolence. 
His mental calibre was of no common order. Had he been 
rightly disciplined in his youth, and trained to habits of self- 
denial and literary improvement, his life might have been 
honourable, and extended to a good old age. " It was the 
misfortune of John Mytton," as a county historian observes, 
" to lose his father in his infancy, and it is remarkable that 
the heirs of the house of Halston have for several generations 
been orphans." 

Mr. Mytton was High Sheriff of Salop in 1823, and repre- 
sented Shrewsbury in the last parliament of George III., being 
elected May 23rd, 1819. He was a candidate the second time 
for the same borough, in March, 1820, the other candidates 
being Panton Corbet, Esq., and the Hon, Henry Grey Bennett, 
but was then defeated. His Parliamentary career was there- 
fore but of short duration ; but brief and useless as it was, it 
cost him many thousand pounds, to raise which a large portion 
of his Shrewsbury and other property had to be sold. 

Mr. Mytton married in 1818, soon after he became of age, 
a daughter of Sir Thomas Jones, and sister of the late Sir 
Thomas John Tyrwhitt Jones, of Stanley Hall, near Bridge- 
north, by whom he had one daughter only, who is now the 
wife of Captain Clement Hill, a brother of Lord Hill. Mrs. 
Mytton died in 1820, and in the following year he married 
Caroline, one of the daughters of Thomas Giffard, Esq., of 
Chillington, in the county of Stafford, by whom he had an 
eldest son John, (who sold the Halston estate to Mr. Wright,) 
and several other children. Mrs. Mytton survived her 
252 



KNOCKIN. 

husband, but at her death, although from Mr. Mytton's erratic 
habits she had been compelled to separate herself from him, 
she was, at her own request, laid in the grave at Halston by 
his side. 

The Halston Estate was purchased in April 1847 by the 
late Edmund Wright, Esq., of Manchester, from the present 
Mr. Mytton. The property was offered for sale by auction 
on the 13th of that month, at Dee's Royal Hotel, Birmingham. 
At Mr. Wright's death it came into the possession of his son, 
Edmund Wright, Esq., the present worthy owner. Since his 
possession of the estate he has greatly improved it. Additions 
have been made to the house, and he has otherwise rendered 
it more convenient and ornamental. The park has been 
thoroughly drained^ four feet in depth, within the last three or 
four years, the main drain being carried underneath the upper 
pool, by which means an ample fall for the efficient working 
of the drain is secured*- 

KNOCKIN. 

We briefly notice this place, from its antiquity, and having 
possessed a castle, erected in the reign of Henry II. Knockin 
is in the hundred of Oswestry, as already stated; is a rectory 
discharged, in the diocese of St. Asaph, and the deanery of 
Marchia. It is situated five and a half miles south-east of 
Oswestry. The origin of the name is not known. There is 
no mention of it in Domesday Book, nor in any of the British 
Chronicles before the Conquest. Camden refers to it but with 
brevity. The castle was built by Lord L'Estrange, the first 
of whose family was Guy L'Estrange (Guido Extraneous,) a 
younger son of the Duke of Bretagne. He had three sons, 
Guy, Hamon, and John, all of whom held lands in Shropshire 
by gift from Henry II. The younger Guy was Sheriff of 
Salop from the sixth to the eleventh of Henry II. ; and again 
from the seventeenth to the twenty-first of Henry II., Ralph, 
his son, gave (the first of Richard II.) the chapel of Knockin 
253 



LLANYMYNECH. 

to the canons of Haughmond. He left no issue, and his three 
sisters became his co-heiresses. John, grandson of Guy, in the 
thirty-third of Henry III., procured a market for the town on 
a Tuesday, and a fair on the eve-day and day after the anni- 
versary of the decollation of St John the Baptist. Madog } 
who was at the head of an insurrection against the king's 
officers in North Wales, marched against the Lord Strange, 
and defeated him at Knockin. The male line of the family 
failed in John Le Strange, who died in the seventeenth of 
Edward IV., leaving an only daughter, Joan, who married 
George, son and heir of Thomas Stanley, who was created 
Earl of Derby by Henry VII. The castle was first demo- 
lished in the civil wars in the reign of King John, and repaired 
by John Le Strange in the third of Henry III. The title of 
iCnockin is still kept Up, though the family is extinct, the 
eldest son in the Derby family being styled Lord Strange. 
The castle was long since a heap of ruins, and scarcely a 
vestige of it remains to be seen. The materials of which it was 
composed were worked up to build the church- walls, &c. ; and, 
"tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon !" 
cart-loads of the stones were carried away to repair the roads ! 
The Poor-rate return for the parish gives the following state- 
ments : — Acreage, 1,384 ; gross rental, £2,131 ; rateable 
value assessed to the relief of the poor, £1,916. 

LLANYMYNECH 

Is situated about six miles from Oswestry, on the turnpike- 
road leading from thence to Welshpool. The parish contains 
one township, Carreg Hofa (Offa's stone,) which, although de- 
tached from, yet is within the county of Denbigh, but attached 
to Montgomeryshire for election and other purposes. The 
other two townships, Llwyntidman and Treprenal, are within 
the county of Salop, but on the borders of Montgomeryshire. 
The church is dedicated to St. Agatha. Patron,— the 
Bishop of St. Asaph. The present Rector is the Rev. John 
Luxmoore. In the chancel is a monument to the memory of 
254 



LLANYMYNECH. 

the wife and daughter of George Griffith, Bishop of St. Asaph, 
who had been Rector of this parish whilst Canon of that 
Chapter. He was of the House of Penrhyn, in Caernarvon- 
shire, and was consecrated to the above See in October 1660, 
in reward for his piety and great sufferings in the royal cause. 
A tablet, in another part of the church, has the following 
singular inscription : — " Randolph Worthington, died in the 
West Indies, of the yellow fever, nobly fighting for his king 
and country" The church and village are beautifully situated 




LLANYMYXECH CHURCH. 



on a gentle slope above the river Vyrnwy, and from Llany- 
mynech Hill present the appearance of a charming Swiss 
scene. Various interpretations of the name of the village are 
given. Some etymological writers have said that the word 
Llanymynech means " the Village of the Miners," whilst 
others contend that it signifies " the Church of the Monks, or 
Monkstown." Since the invasion of the Romans the hill has 
been known as mineral ground, so that the origin of the name 
" Village of the Miners," is easily understood. A monastery 
is said to have been in existence here at an early date, and 
hence " the Church of the Monks," &c< 

An ancient mansion called Carreg Hofa Castle once 
stood in the parish, but was demolished about the beginning 
255 



LLANYMYNECH. 

of the 13th century. Having been built of wood, not a 
vestige of the Castle remains. A foss, to guard the most 
inaccessible approach on the east, is the only index left. It 
was taken and pillaged in 1162, by the two cousins Owen 
Cyveiliog and Owen ab Madog. The latter kept possession 
of it for twenty-five years, and was eventually slain in it by 
Gwenwynwyn and Cadwallon, sons of Owen Cyveiliog^ 

Offa's Dyke separates the parish into two nearly equal 
parts, and continues its course as described in page 10. The 
river Morda divides the parish on the east from Kinnerley, 
and on the north it joins the parish of Oswestry. 

Llanymynech Hill is an extensive tract of land, on the lime- 
stone formation, comprising about 160 acres. It belongs to 
F. R. West, Esq., M.P., and the minerals upon it are leased 
to the " Carreg Hova Copper and Lead Mining Company " 
The limestone rocks, part of which are 900 feet in height, are 
worked by another Company, and large quantities of fine 
limestone are annually raised and sold, principally for agri- 
cultural purposes, in Shropshire and Montgomeryshire. The 
ores raised from the hill are carbonates, sulphurets, and oxides 
of copper, carbonate of lead, and calamine (carbonate of zinc). 
On the north-west side of the hill are the remains of ancient 
surface mines, supposed to have been of Roman origin, and 
"from vitrifications near this spot, there is no doubt that the 
Roman miners smelted their copper there in jars on open 
hearths. Near these old workings is an immense cave or level, 
known in the district by the name of the Ogo, from the Welsh 
Ogof — (a cave). Its windings are so numerous and intricate, 
that many years back the labourers, attempting to explore 
its mazes, were bewildered in the effort, and a number of 
miners, who had been sent in search of them, discovered them 
lying prostrate on the ground, in despair of ever again seeing 
the light of day. Skeletons, various utensils, and coins of 
Constantine and Vespasian, Antoninus and Faustina, have 
been found within and about the Ogo. One of these skeletons 
256 



LLANYMYNECH. 

had a battle-axe by its side, and a bracelet of glass beads, 
like the druidical rings or beads called glain neidr, (the ova 
anguinum of Pliny,) and another with a golden bracelet en- 
circling the wrist. In 1849 two other skeletons were found 
buried in trenches near the Ogo, by the side of one of which 
lay a strong battle-axe, formed of mixed metal, but sharp at 
the edge. These skeletons were of a very large size, the 
bones evidently being those of remarkably tall men. The 
late Mr. J. F. M. Dovaston explored the Ogo several 
years ago, and declared that none of the paths extend more 
than two hundred yards from the entrance. Great quantities 
of human bones were found in many parts, especially where 
the cavern becomes wide and lofty, and this fact induced the 
belief that the place, at some early period, was a refuge in 
battle or a depository for the dead. For years it was 
commonly beMeved in the district that this labyrinth commu- 
nicated by subterraneous paths with Carreg-Hofa Castle ; 
and some persons have exercised their imagination so largely as 
to declare that, while in the far recesses of the cave, they have 
heard the rivers Vyrnwy and Tanat rolling over their heads, and 
that the said labyrinth actually leads down to fairy-land ! 

On the eastern brow of the hill there formerly stood a 
Cromlech, measuring seven feet by six, and eighteen inches 
thick. It was called by the Welsh people " Bedd-y-Cawr" 
or the Giant's Grave ; and under it, according to tradition, a 
giant's wife was buried, with a golden torques about her neck. 
To search for this treasure three brothers named Paine, who 
lived in the neighbourhood some years ago, threw down the 
stone from its pedestal. 

The prospect from Llanymynech Hill is indisputably one 
of the finest in the kingdom. On the Welsh side are seen the 
summits of mountains, rising in every variety of ridge, the 
distant in the softest azure, and the nearer in the most brilliant 
verdure, with hanging woods, fertile meadows, and the brightly- 
shining rivers, Vyrnwy and Tanat, uniting in the valley below, 

and sweeping their sunny waters to join the Severn, under the 
257 S 



]LLANYMYNECH, 

abrupt and bold rocks of the Breiddin range of mountains. 

At a considerable distance, when enlightened by the sun, 

may be seen the glistening water-fall of Pistill Rhaiadr. 

Turning towards England the expansive Vale of Shropshire 

is seen richly wooded, and profuse in luxurious vegetation, 

terminated by the column and spires of Shrewsbury, the 

Wrekin, and the far distant hills of Staffordshire and Cheshire. 

In a northerly direction the Shropshire Union Canal is seen 

glitteringly interlacing the rich meadow land; the graceful 

lake at Llynclis peeps out amidst overbading trees ; and 

the ancient tower of Oswestry parish church completes the 

diversified and enchanting series of landscapes. We lately 

heard a visitor from Switzerland, just arrived at Llanymynech 

Hill from that farrfamed picturesque country, declare that he 

had seen nothing in the land of William Tell to compare with 

the beauty and grandeur of the scene before him. Enraptured 

with the prospects, he enthusiastically exclaimed, as the 

celebrated Lord Lyttleton had done on viewing Festiniog 

Vale, " With the woman one Joves, with the friend of one's 

heart, and a good library of books, one might pass an age here, 

and think it a day !" 

To the south-west lies Carreg Hofa Hall, formerly the 

pleasant retreat of Sir Thomas Jones, Chief Justice of the 

Common Pleas, and representative for Shrewsbury in 1660. 

It came into the possession of Sir J. T. Tyrwhitt Jones, 

Bart., Usher of the Black Rod, and father of the first wife of 

the late John Mytton, Esq., of Halston. Further in the 

same direction is Pentre Heilyn, the seat of the Heilyn family, 

some members of which occupy a distinguished place in 

Cambrian biography. Below the western brow of the hill is 

Aber Tanat, formerly the seat of the Tanats, or Tanads, 

descended from Einion, who took their name from the river 

Tanat, near their house, for the same reason as the Mostyns, 

the Glynnes, &c, to avoid the redundancy of Aps. Blodwel, 

a little farther north, was the graceful theme of bards and 

minstrels when Welsh song and music went joyously hand 
258 



LLANYMYNECH. 



in hand. Llwyn-y-groes, formerly the seat of the late John 
Evans, M.D., (but now of Richard Nightingale Broughton, 
Esq.,) viewed also from the hill, claims special notice. Dr. 
Evans was popular in the literary world, and his didactic 
poem, " The Bee a " enriched with instructive notes, philoso- 
phical and botanical, is still read with delight. Dr. Evans 
was father of the author of " The Rectory of Valehead" a 
work which obtained public favour, and still holds its place 
as a literary production of high merit. The late Mr. 
Robert Baugh, of Llanymynech, was another distinguished 
parishioner. He officiated for many years as clerk of the 
parish, but his talents as a land surveyor and draughtsman 
procured for him a high reputation. His large map of Shrop- 
shire, a work honourable to his talents, is still referred to for 
its accuracy. 

The identification of the Roman encampment at Clawdd 
Coch, in the parish of Llanymynech, with the ancient 
Mediolanum, is still a disputable point. A learned antiquary, 
the Rev. R. W. Evans, Vicar of Heversham (son of the late 
Dr. Evans), considers that such identification is clearly 
established ; and the late Rev. Peter Roberts, who had 
viewed the place, " would fain insist, in conversation, that it 
was the identical spot where Mediolanum once quartered the 
legions of ambitious Rome." The late Rev. Walter Davies, 
no mean authority on questions of antiquity, paid much at- 
tention to the subject, and after personal inspection of Clawdd 
Coch, came to the conclusion that Mediolanum is still among 
the terrce incognitce. 

The following is the estimated extent, gross rental, and 
rateable value of this parish : — 

Townships of 
LlwyntidmarA 



Treprenal, 
Carreghofa, 

259 



r 



County of Salop. 



ounty of Denbigh 

now annexed 
to Montgomery. 
Total .... 



Estimated 
extent. 


Gross rental. 


Rateable 
value. 


A. R. P. 


£ S. D. 


£ S. D. 


1052 3 29 


2227 4 10 


2227 4 10 


227 2 16 


309 16 


309 16 


1221 3 8 


2224 15 6 


1968 6 6 


2502 1 23 


4761 16 4|4505 7 4 



LLANFORDA, 

The residence of the Right Hon. Sir Henry Watkin Williams 
Wynn, K.C.B. and G.C.H., is situated one mile and a half 
west of Oswestry. The original estate was part of the 
possession of Einion Evell, Lord of Cynllaeth and Mochnant, 
from whom it descended, together with Llwyn-y-Maen, to 
Ievan Vychan, constable of Knockin, whose heiress, Agnes, 
carried it into the family of the Lloyds, by her marriage with 
Maurice Lloyd, of whom the Welsh records give the following 
account: — "The said Maurice Lloyd ab Bleddyn Lloyd, 
finding himself much oppressed by the English Laws, did 
kill one of the judges and hanged divers other officers on oak 
trees in Uch-dulas, upon whose conviction his lands and in- 
heritance in Denbigh-land were escheated to the Crown, and 
so still remains for most part to this day, and known by the 
name of the said Maurice Lloyd ; and he for his safeguard with- 
drew himself to the sanctuary of Halston, in the county of 
Salop, and there betook himself to the protection of John 
Fitz-Alan, Lord of Oswestry and Clunne, and after Earl of 
Arundel. By the said Earl's commission he levied a great 
number of soldiers out of the said Earl's Lordships and Hun- 
dreds in the marches of Wales, and made the said Maurice 
Lloyd Captain over them, and the said Earl of Arundel being 
then General of the English forces, the King of England sent 
them to assist the Emperor in the Holy Warre against the 
Turke, in which service, at the scaling of, and entering, the 
breach at the siege of Aeon, the Emperor's colours were taken 
by the enemies, and recovered back by the said Maurice 
Lloyd, and brought again by him to the Emperor, in reward 
of whose valour and faithful service therein the Emperor 
gave him the coat of the house of Austria, only changing the 
field for his first coat in his achievements before the parental 
coat of Hedd Moelwynog." The bearing thus acquired, and 
constantly used by his descendants, was the imperial eagle 
in a field sable. From Maurice Lloyd the Llanforda property 
descended to Richard Lloyd, who, dying in 1508, divided the 
260 



LLANSILIN. 

estate, and left Llanforda to his eldest son John, and Llwyn- 
y-maen to his second son Edward. Llanforda eventually 
passed from the hands of this family, Edward Lloyd, a man 
of dissolute character, having sold it to the first Sir William 
Williams, Speaker of the House of Commons in the two last 
Parliaments of Charles II., about the year 1685, in whose 
posterity (the Wynnstay family) it has since continued. The 
Edward Lloyd just mentioned was father, as we have stated 
in our Biographical notices, of the celebrated scholar and 
antiquary, Edw T ard Llwyd. There was formerly a church at 
Llanforda, but it was suppressed by Rynerus, Bishop of St. 
Asaph. The river Morda passes close to the estate. 

Sir Henry W'ynn is a Privy Councillor, and for twenty-five 
years filled the important office of Minister Plenipotentiary 
to the Court at Copenhagen. He is also a magistrate for the 
county of Salop. 

LLANSILIN 
Is situated in the county of Denbigh, but the parish being on 
the confines of Salop, and near to Oswestry, a brief notice here 
will not be inappropriate, The parish has numerous histori- 
cal associations. It was the birthplace of Morris Kyffin, the 
learned translator into Welsh of Bishop Jewell's Apology ; 
of Charles Edwards, the pious author of " Hanes-y-Fydd," a 
history of Christianity ; of John Davies, author of " Heraldry 
Displayed;" and of Hugh Morris, the eminent Welsh poet 
and song-writer. Glasgoed, a seat of the Kyffins (the last 
heiress of which married Sir William Williams, Speaker of the 
House of Commons), is now the property of Sir W. W. Wynn, 
Bart. ; and Plasnewydd, an ancient and pleasant residence, 
once the property of the Chirk Castle family, belongs to 
Thomas Hughes, Esq., who resides there. The late Rev. 
Walter Davies contends, in his historical notice of Llansilin, 
that Owen Glyndwr " was an inhabitant at least, if not a native 
of this parish." Pennant makes Sycharth, situated in the valley 
of the Dee, about three miles below Corwen, as the mansion of 

Owen, whilst Mr. Davies fixes the Sycharth, in the parish of 
261 



LLANYBLODWEL. 

Llansilin, as another of Owen's houses. He says, " in the year 
1792 I had the curiosity to visit this spot (Sycharth) in Glyn- 
dyfrdwy, and also another place called, and universally known 
by the name of Sycharth, in this parish of Llansilin ; and when 
I returned to Mr. Pennant's volume, I entered in the margin, 
opposite the name Sycharth,-—' Sycharth, the seat of Owain 
Glyndwr, described by Iolo Goch, in his Invitation Poem, is 
in the parish of Llansilin, about twelve miles to the south by 
east of Glyndyfrdwy."' Mr. Davies adds, "As Owain was 
baron of two townships, no one will deny his having a seat in 
each; one on the Dee in Glyndyfrdwy, the other on the 
Cynllaeth, in this (Llansilin) parish. "—In the church there is 
a fine monument of thefirst Sir William Williams, Speaker of 
the House of Commons.— The present Vicar is the Rev. Walter 
Jones.— The Poor-rate return for the present year (1855,) 
gives the acreage at 13,000 ; gross rental, £11,880 13s. lOd. ; 
rateable value assessed to the relief of the poor, £1,070 16s. 2d. 

LLANYBLODWEL, 

Although now included in the county of Salop, is neverthe- 
less on the borders of Montgomeryshire, and is in the diocese 
of St. Asaph. It is a rectory ( cum cap. Morton ) t dedicated 
to St. Michael, and is valued in the King's books at £39 5s. 
Patron, the Bishop of St. Asaph. It is situated six miles 
from Oswestry, on the east side of the river, below Aber- 
cynllaeth, and above Aber-tanato In Domesday Book it is 
called Bodowan-ham, and in an old deed of the Fitz-Alans 
Blodwel (dated in the time of Henry 6th,) Vawre Villata, 
which* means "the village of Great Blodwel." Welsh 
etymologists contend that the name of the place is derived 
from Blodau, a flower, the spring there being very early ; 
whilst other writers say that the name originated in the Saxon 
"blood" and "wold," in consequence of the bloody and in- 
human battle fought there between the Mercians and the 
Cymry (or Welsh). In this parish is Blodwel-Hall, the 

deserted seat of the Tanats, descended from Einion. The 
262 



«- 



-o 




B- 



-s 



PARK HALL. 

heiress of the house, Jane, married John Matthews, of Court, 
and the heiress of the Matthewses, Ursula, married Sir John 
Bridgman, grandson to the Lord-Keeper, Sir Orlando, and 
ancestor to the present Earl of Bradford, who inherits the 
estate. The rector of the parish is the Rev. John Parker, son 
of the late Thomas Netherton Parker, Esq.* of Sweeney Hall, 
near Oswestry, and distinguished for his taste in ecclesiastical 
architecture and decorations < 

PARK HALL, 
In the parish of Whittington, the residence of Richard Henry 
Kinchant, Esq., is situated a little more than a mile east from 
Oswestry, and about the same distance from Whittington. It 
is one of those ancient timber mansions* few of which are now 
remaining in England, perhaps none in so perfect a state of 
preservation, and exhibits a fine specimen of the domestic 
architecture of bye-gone days. The estate on which it stands 
formed a portion* in ages past* of the once extensive and 
densely-wooded park appertaining to Whittington Castle, 
when that ancient stronghold could boast as its possessors in 
succession the powerful baronial families of Tudor Trevor, 
Peverel, Gwarine de Metz, and Fitz-Alan. 

In those somewhat rare and beautifully-delineated maps of 
English counties, by Saxton, published in 1577, it is styled 
" The Park Hall." This very singular and time-honoured 
structure is presumed to have been built in the reign of Queen 
Mary (1553-8), by Robert ap Howell, otherwise Robert 
Powell, the first of that name seated at Park, son of Howel 
ap Griffith, of Oswestry, descended from a younger son of 
Ievan Vychan, of Abertanat, a junior branch of the royal line 
of Powys. It remained in this family until the death of 
Thomas Powell, High Sheriff in 1717 ; his line terminated 
in an heiress, Jane Powell, who sold the estate to Sir Francis 
Charlton, Bart., of Ludford* in the county of Hereford. Sub- 
sequently this property and that of Blundel Hall, near Bishop's 
Castle, became vested in the Kinchant family, by the marriage 

of John Quinchant (as the name was then spelt), of Stone 
263 



PARK HALL. 

House, near Ludlow, Shropshire, a Captain in the 32nd 
Regiment of Infantry, with Emma Charlton, daughter of the 
before-mentioned Sir Francis Charlton. By this marriage 
the present possessor of Park derives his pedigree from the 
Princes of Powys-land. 

The house is 126 feet in length, the facade presenting nu- 
merous pointed gables, terminating in pinnacles. The entrance 
to the Hall is through a porch, and over the original oak 
door, which is of considerable thickness, and studded with 
large square-headed nails, is the following inscription, carved 
on stone, the letters in bold relief: — " Quod tibi fieri non vis 
alteri ne feceris." The chimnies, of solid brick-work, are 
quadrangular, a small space intervening between each, and 
crowned with a heavy mass of masonry uniting them together, 
and so placed as to present an angle to each of the cardinal 
points : thus formed they have resisted the tempests of three 
centuries. The hall is wainscoated, and is 33ft. long by 23ft. 
wide : it contains several old family portraits of the Charlton 
and Kinchant families. There is an oak table in it, cut from 
one plank, resting on massive turned pillars j the length is 
23ft. by 4ft. in width, and 2j inches thick: at one end is 
carved the date — 1581. Over a door in the hall, leading to 
the great staircase, the arms of Powell, Needham, and Corbet, 
are painted in separate panels, of a deeply-recessed oak 
moulding. Thomas Powell, of Park Hall, who died in 1588, 
married Mary, daughter of Sir Robert Corbet, Knight, of 
Moreton Corbet, and his son, Robert Powell, married Anne, 
daughter of Robert Needham, Esq., of Shavington, sister of 
the first Viscount Kilmorrey. The large dining-room is 
beautifully wainscoated in diamond-shaped panels, and the 
mantel-piece is a noble specimen of rich oak carving. It 
bears the date 1640, with this motto carved on a scroll : — 
" Nee vi nee vento." A Colonel Jones, of Shropshire, engaged 
with Cromwell's army, bore this motto on his banner, yet it 
does not appear that he ever resided at Park, or was connected 
264 



PARK HALL. 

with the Powell family. The ceiling is a fine example of 
plaster- work, and, as there appears no date upon it, is probably 
coeval with the house. It is ornamented with figures of birds, 
horses, and stags, and the central compartment has a repre- 
sentation in bold relief, of Neptune and his attendant Tritons. 
The great staircase, leading to the drawing-room, long gallery, 
and bedrooms, is a good specimen of the style of the 16th 
century; the balustrade of massive oak, the strong upright 
pillars, having pointed finials, are carved with a T like orna- 
ment, such as is of common occurrence on the ancient stone 
crosses of Wales. Underneath the window, on the first 
landing-place, is carved this sentence : — " Accurate cogita 
immutabilia." Here are also two fine paintings, the one by 
Holbein, representing the great reformers, Luther, Wyckliffe, 
Melancthon, and others, seated round a table ; the other 
painting a boar hunt, after Schneider. The upper rooms are 
all wainscoated, and abound in elaborately-carved old oak 
furniture, some bearing dates early in the 17th century. The 
gallery, extending nearly the entire length of the house, is 
hung with several old family portraits. There is a beautiful 
little chapel abutting on the west wing of the house; the 
windows are stained glass, the interior is wainscoated, and the 
whole arched over with oak paneling ; over the entrance is 
carved on stone these words :■ — " Petra et ostium Christus est." 
There is a gallery to the chapel, approached by a door from 
the drawing-room. On the south side of the garden is a 
terrace of considerable length, and in the centre stands a re- 
markable sun-dial, in stone, bearing several Latin inscriptions, 
alluding to the rapid flight of time : on the pediment is the 
date 1578. All the letters and figures on this stone, and all 
that are found in various parts round the house, are carved in 
relief. This dial fronts the south, and has no less than seven 
complete dials on it. On the terrace are likewise the frag- 
ments of several large stones and dials, bearing inscriptions 
in Latin. 
265 



PORKINGTON. 

In the List of the High Sheriffs of Shropshire will be 
found the following names, owners of Park Hall :— 

Robert Powell - 1647 

Thomas Powell 1717 

Job Charlton 1748 

John Charlton Kinchant ------ 1775 

Richard Henry Kinchant ------ 1846 

PORKINGTON, 

Situated about a mile from Oswestry, to the right of the road 
leading to the race-course, is the seat of William Ormsby 
Gore, Esquire, M.P. for North Shropshire. This delightful 
estate is associated with some of the most interesting incidents 
in the history of North Wales, and has for years been viewed 
as one of the great land-marks of the chequered history of 
the Welsh border. It derives its name from " Castell 
Brogyntyn," a fortress of the celebrated Owen Brogyntyn, a 
natural son of Madog ab Meredydd ab Bleddyn, Prince of 
half of Powys, and who, as a gift from his father, enjoyed the 
title of Lord of Edeirnion and Dinmael. He nourished in the 
latter part of the twelfth century. The site of the ancient 
fort still remains in the shrubberies of Porkington, the moat 
filled up serving as a gravel walk, surrounded by plantations. 
Owen resided at Brogyntyn, whence he assumed his surname. 
According to a drawing in the Mytton collection, the fort was 
of a circular form, surrounded by a large earthen dyke and a 
deep foss, that had two entrances close to each other, projecting 
a little from the sides, and diverging, the end of each being 
guarded by a semi-lunar curtain. The name of the fortress 
and house (for Owen Brogyntyn resided there) was soon 
altered into one closely resembling the present, as we find 
that in 1218 Henry ILL, in an address to Llywelyn, Prince 
of Wales, informs him that, among others, " Bleddyn Filius 
Oeni de Porkinton" had performed the service he owed to 
the English Crown. The house was formerly known also by 
the name of " Constables' Hall" The precise date of the 
change of name cannot be ascertained. 
266 



PORKINGTON. 

Porkington is also historically connected with the dis- 
tinguished royalist Sir John Owen, of Cleneney, Caernarvon- 
shire, a man whose history reveals unshaken fidelity to the 
unfortunate Charles I., and a courage undaunted amidst the 
most trying reverses. A short biography of this eminent man 
will not be deemed out of place in these pages. Sir John 
Owen was the eldest son of John Owen, Esq. of Cleneney, 
and was born in 1600. His father had been secretary to the 
great Walsingham, and had amassed in his service a fortune 
of £10,000, a large sum in those days. He married Ellen 
Maurice, the heiress of Cleneney and Porkington, about 
1597. Their son John entered the army, and soon dis- 
tinguished himself. At the siege of Bristol he greatly 
signalized himself, and was severely wounded in that engage- 
ment. Throughout indeed the wars against the Common 
Wealth he proved himself a faithful and valiant commander on 
behalf of the king. At the famous battle of Llandegai, near 
Bangor, Caernarvonshire, fortune declared against him, and he 
was taken prisoner. This victory was considered by the 
Cromwell party of so much importance that Captain Taylor, 
who communicated the intelligence to Parliament, was re- 
warded with £200 from Sir John's estate. He was conveyed 
to Windsor Castle, where he found incarcerated four of his 
gallant compatriots, namely, the Duke of Hamilton, the Earl 
of Holland, and Lords Goring and Capel. All these prisoners 
were put upon trial, and Sir John Owen maintained a firm 
and heroic spirit during the enquiry that eventually saved his 
life. On being asked by the Court for his defence, he said 
" he was a plain gentleman of Wales who had always been 
taught to obey the king ; that he had served him honestly du- 
ring the war; and finding many honest subjects endeavouring 
to raise forces whereby they might get him out of prison, he did 
the like." He was condemned to lose his head, and at the 
conclusion of the sentence he bowed to the Court and gave 
his humble thanks. A bye-stander, marking his intrepid 

conduct, asked him what he meant, when Sir John replied — 
267 



PORKINGTON. 

" It was a great honor to a poor gentleman of Wales to lose 
his head with such noble lords, for he was afraid they would 
have hanged him." Strong remonstrances were made in 
Parliament on behalf of the duke and noble lords, but, finding 
no one speak in favour of Sir John Owen, Ireton rose as his 
advocate, and told the house " there was one person for whom 
no one spoke a word, and therefore he requested that he 
might be saved by the sole motive and goodness of the house." 
Ireton's appeal was effectual, and Sir John was pardoned after 
a few months' imprisonment, and permitted to return to his 
native country. He died in 1666, and was buried in Pen- 
morfa Church, Caernarvonshire, where a monument is erected 
to his memory. The estates of Sir John Owen are possessed 
by his lineal descendant, Mrs. Ormsby Gore, and many 
interesting relics of the gallant knight are preserved at 
Porkington. Among these are his official seal as Vice Ad- 
miral of North Wales, and a sword given him by Lord Capel 
with the following inscription : — " Lord Capel, the day before 
his execution, presented this sword to 'Sir John Owen, by 
whom, he said, he was convinced it would be worn with 
honour." His portrait is also preserved at Porkington, from 
which the engraving, in Pennant's quarto edition of his tours, 
was made. 

Porkington is chiefly indebted to the wife of Mr. Ormsby 
Gore (daughter and heiress of Owen Ormsby, Esq., who 
married the daughter of William Owen, Esq., and Mary 
Godolphin), for its present beautiful appearance. The 
mansion having been built at three several periods presented 
a confused mass, until the alterations made by Miss Ormsby 
conferred on it a correct Grecian elevation. The present 
worthy owner assumed on his marriage the name of Ormsby, 
prefixed to his own, and has added largely to the demesne, 
and to the well-timbered and romantic appearance of the hills 
which environ the rear of the building, the sight from the 
north-east and south giving extensive views over the counties 

of Denbigh, Chester, and Salop. 
268 



SELATTYN. 

On the pediment of the portico are the arms of the present 
possessors in alto-relievo. The principal stair-case is lighted 
by a dome of stained glass, exhibiting the names and arms of 
different proprietors, with the dates of their occupancy, and 
the names and arms also of various heiresses connected there- 
with, namely, Laken, Maurice, Owen, Anwyl, Wynne, 
Godolphin, Ormsby and Gore. The reception rooms are 
furnished with remarkable elegance and taste. In the saloon 
is the full-length portrait of Mrs. Siddons, a singularly- 
faithful likeness, and also a curious painting on panel, being 
the only portion saved of the Altar-piece of Valle Crucis 
Abbey. 

The views from the Terrace at Porkington are extensive 
and highly picturesque, displaying a variety of rich landscape 
scenery. In the foreground (now attached to the Porkington 
estate) is Old Oswestry, the Hen Dinas of the Welsh, (and in 
still more ancient periods Caer Ogyr-fan, from Ogyr-fan, a hero 
contemporary with Arthur,) a densely wooded hill, and sup- 
posed to have been a strong fortification of British or Roman 
origin. It is situated on the range of Watts' Dyke, which 
served as a boundary to the neutral ground on the Welsh 
side. It is surrounded by three deep entrenchments, one 
above the other^ in which are two passes, north and south, to 
aseend to a very extended plain on the top of the whole, en- 
compassed with fortifications &c, comprising upwards of 
forty-two acres of land. The sides of the entrenchments are 
closely wooded, and carefully preserved by Mr. Ormsby 
Gore, who has also planted an adjacent hill on the other side of 
the valley. 

The parish of Selattyn, in which Porkington stands, is 
divided into two townships, deriving their names from the 
same source, namely, Upper Porkington and Lower Porkington. 

SELATTYN & HENGOED. 
SELATTYN, 

Or Sylattin, is a parish in the upper division of Oswestry, a 

rectory remaining in charge, in the diocese of St. Asaph and 
269 



SELATTYN. 



the deanery of Marchia. The village is situated about two miles 
from the Great Western Railway Station at Preesgwene, and 
three miles north-west of Oswestry. The population of the 
parish has greatly increased within the last forty years, much 
land, hitherto waste, has been brought into a profitable state 
of cultivation, and many neat and convenient cottages have 
been built. During the long residence in the parish of the 
late Rev. G. N. K. Lloyd, rector, who died in his sixtieth 
year, on the 17th January, 1846, the social condition of his 
parishioners was greatly improved, as he was constantly en- 
gaged for their benefit in every "good word and work," In 
October 1846 a water-ram was erected at the expense of his 
nephew, the Rev. Albany R. Lloyd ; by which means the 
water is forced up, from a fine spring some distance off, to the 
rectory, and on towards the village, for the convenience and 
comfort of the inhabitants. 




SELATTYN CHURCH. 



The village is romantically situated. The church and 
school, the small collection of dwellings, with the little 



270 



RECTORS OF SELATTYN. 

picturesque valley leading to it, and the brook, which empties 
itself into the Morlas, rolling its limpid stream over a rocky 
and pebbly bed, are all delightful features of the scene. In 
the church-yard some beautiful and aged ash-trees expand 
their immense arms over the precipice beneath, while a noble 
avenue of lime trees adorns the northern side, and several lofty 
firs enrich the southern. There are also several ancient yews, 
which add solemnity to this interesting spot. On the hills 
above Selattyn are two large carneddu, with lesser ones near 
to them. 

The erection of the steeple of the church was commenced 
upon in 1703. In 1821 a north transept was added to the 
fabric, and in 1828 the south transept was built. A new 
organ, built by Bryceson, was placed in the church in 1847. 

A whimsical derivation of the name of the place is given 
by the late John Davies, Esq., Recorder of Oswestry : — " A 
schoolmaster having set up here, and finding that few pupils 
attended, imagined that people did not know of him, but 
passed on to Oswestry, wrote over his door, ' I sell Latin !' " 
Whether this was veritably the origin of the name we are un- 
able to prove, but, as Mr. Davies adds, " if not the best, it is 
not worse than some derivations which may be found." 

We subjoin a list of the rectors of the parish since 1537 5 
including the appointment of the fiery meteor Sacheverell, 
whose career we have noticed in preceding pages : — 
LIST OF RECTORS. 

John ap Robert -------- 

Robert Stanley 1537 

T. Thomas 1556 

Robert Powell 1557 

Richard Price 1578 

Thomas Topperly ------- 1587 

William Horton (Vicar of Oswestry) - 

Rowland Thackerly 1592 

Henry Jones 1600 

James Wilding 1610 

271 



HENGOED. 

Thomas Wilding ---____ IQQQ 

John Jones - - - - ' - - - _ 1681 

Henry Sacheverell, D.D. - - - - - -1713 

William Daker - - - - - - - -1713 

Thomas Hanmer - - - - - - -1719 

William Roberts - - - - - - -1780 

John Robert Lloyd ------- 

Whitehall Whitehall Davies - - - - - 1801 

George Newton Kynaston Lloyd - - - - -1810 

Charles Arthur Albany Lloyd (Rector of Whittington) - 1846 
Henry James Lloyd ------- 1852 

John Husband -------- 1853 

HENGOED, 

In the parish of Selattyn, is situated about two miles north of 
Oswestry, and has derived much interest from the recent erec- 
tion of a neat and convenient church, dedicated to St. Barna- 
bas, built chiefly at the expense of the Rev. Albany Rossendale 
Lloyd, the present much-respected Incumbent, aided by a few 
subscriptions. The foundation-stone was laid by the Rev. A. 
R. Lloyd, Aug. 16th, 1849 ; the church was opened for divine 
service June 11, 1850 ; and was consecrated by the Right Rev. 
Dr. Thomas Voule, Bishop of St. Asaph, August 15th, 1853. 
A district, with a population of about 650 persons, has been 
legally assigned to this church, and was duly gazetted January 
31st, 1854. An excellent Sunday-school is attached to the 
church, and was originally used, until the present church was 
completed, as a place for divine worship. 

The amount rated to the poor for the parish of Selattyn, 
for the year ending 25th March, 1855, was Is. 3d. in the 
pound. The annual rental of the land and buildings is fixed at 
£6,974; rateable value, £6,501 6s. 8d. ; and the estimated 
extent of acreage, 5,434a. 3r. 13p. 

ST. MARTIN'S 

Is a parish situated about five miles from, and in the hundred 
of Oswestry. It is a vicarage discharged, in the diocese of 
St. Asaph, and deanery of Marchia. The great tithes were 

272 



ST. MARTIN S. 

given by one of the Fitz-Alans to the Monastery of Oswestry, 
Album- Monaster ium. They afterwards became the property 
of the Duke of Powis, and now belong in part to Viscount 
Dungannon. The living is a vicarage, and is valued at 
£9 8s. 8d., but, having received Queen Anne's Bounty, is dis- 
charged from payments. The church is dedicated to St. 
Martin. The tower is a handsome building of freestone, but 
the body of the church is of rubble stone, and very inferior in 
appearance. In 1811 the church was new pewed, when a 
gallery was also erected, and the same year the late Lord 
Dungannon made a present of an organ. In the roof of the 
chancel were several beautiful wood-carved images, but they 
were destroyed by some merciless churchwarden. The Bishop 
of St. Asaph had a palace here, but Owen Glyndwr burnt it 
when he laid waste the county of Salop. In the Mostyn 
library is a Welsh manuscript on parchment, of the life of St. 
Martin. It was translated from the Latin by John Trevor, a 
writer who nourished between 1430 and 1470. In the parish 
are two schools, one founded by William ab Royd, Merchant 
Taylor, for fifteen poor children, and the other by the late 
Viscountess Dungannon, on the Lancasterian plan, for twenty 
poor girls. The poor-rate return for the year 1855 shows 
that the acreage of the parish is 5,315 ; the gross rental, 
£10,016 13s. 9d. ; and the rateable value, £9,534 4s. 3d. 
The present Vicar is the Rev. William Hurst. 

In the village called The Lodge, in this parish, a school 
was erected in the year 1851, and has been productive of 
much good among the humbler portion of the inhabitants. 



In the parish of St. Martin's there are several beautiful 
residences, among which may be enumerated Preesgwene, 
The Quinta, Tyn-y-Rhos, and Greenfield Lodge. 

Preesgwene House is historically connected with the 
Border Lands. It is the property and residence of J. R. 
Powell, Esq., is a neat mansion, embosomed in rich foliage, 
273 T 



PREESGWENE HOUSE. 

and situated four and a half miles from Oswestry. The 
house was built in the sixteenth century, by E. Phillips, 
Esq., an ancestor of the present possessor. The Rev. Robert 
Williams, in his "Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Welsh- 
men" states that "Gwen, the most valiant of the twenty-four 
sons of Llywarch Hen, was slain on the ford of Mori as, a brook 
which rises in Selattyn mountain, near Oswestry, and flows 
into the Ceiriog. The name of Gwen is preserved in Prys 
Gwen, a gentleman's residence near the Morlas, in the parish 
of St. Martin's." Llywarch Hen is said to have died in the 
parish of Llanvor, near Bala, where a secluded place called 
Pabell, or the cot of Llywarch Hen, is still pointed out. He 
was a British Prince by birth, and a distinguished bard, as 
already stated. [See pp. 8 and 9.] 

The Quinta was for many years the residence of the late 
Hon. Frederick West, (a gentleman whose virtues and honour 
endeared him to all who had the privilege of his acquaintance,) 
by whom it was greatly improved. This delightful estate 
was purchased by Thomas Barnes, Esq., M. P, for Bolton, 
Lancashire, one of the most successful manufacturers of that 
county. In his hands the property has undergone still 
further improvements. 

Tyn-y-Rhos, the seat of the Rev. John Croxon Phillips, 
is an ancient mansion. In 1164, the reign of Henry II., Owen 
(or Owain) Gwynedd, Prince of North Wales, slept at this 
house, and granted to the owner certain privileges already 
described. [See p.' 24.] 

Greenfield Lodge is a pleasantly-situated villa, the 
property, and formerly the residence of F. W. Smith, Esq., 
Agent to F. R. West, Esq., M.P. The house is approached 
by a remarkably fine avenue. 

WEST FELTON 

Parish comprises many beautiful residences, including Pradoe, 
the seat of the Hon. Mrs. Kenyon (widow of the late Hon. 
274 



WEST FELTON. 

Thomas Kenyon, third son of Chief Justice Lord Kenyon) ; 
Woodhouse, the fine old mansion of W. Mostyn Owen, 
Esq.; Tedsmere, a house belonging to T. B. Bulkley Owen, 
Esq.; and " The Nursery," formerly the residence of J. F. M. 
Dovaston, Esq., but now possessed by John Dovaston, Esq., 
the inheritor of the Poet's estates. The parish church is 
dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, and is of great 
antiquity, the nave being of Norman date. Within the last 
few years a new aisle on the north side, in the early English 
style, has been erected. At the east end of it there is an 
elegant triplet filled with stained glass of early English 
character, displaying scriptural subjects in medallions. Other 
improvements have been made in the church from designs by 
Mr. G. G. Scott. Near Haughton, in this parish, large 
quantities of earthenware have been discovered, of various 
colours, blue, red, green, and yellow, and highly glazed. 
Their origin or purpose remains a mystery, but is still worthy 
of antiquarian investigation. Sandford Hall, in this parish, 
was formerly the residence of the celebrated "Bumper Squire 
Jones," the hero of the once popular song of that name. 

The present rector is the Rev. T. Hunt, According to 
the poor-rate return for 1855 the acreage of the parish is 
5,989 acres 2 roods ; the gross rental £10,048 10s.; and the 
rateable value assessed to the relief of the poor, £7,948 6s. 

WHITTINGTON , 

Is a charming village, possessing all the beauties which give 
pleasure to the lovers of inland rustic scenery. Picturesque 
cottages, neat dwellings for people in retired circumstances, 
good-looking farmers' homesteads, the village church, in silent 
repose, surrounded by its grave-yard, and finally, the 
vestiges of its ancient Castle, once the baronial and stately 
residence of the renowned Norman Chief Fitz-Gwarine, and 
the scene of many a romantic story, give to Whittington village 
a lively interest in which all who can leisurely view it must 
275 



WHITTINGTON 

participate. It is situated upon the turnpike-road from 
Oswestry to EHesmere, and two and a-half miles from the 
former, and five and a-half from the latter. The Great 
Western Railway passes through the village, where there is 
also a station, the trains stopping there several times a day. 

Its antiquity extends so far back as the year 590, when, as 
the Welsh poet Llywarch Hen states, it was known by the 
name of the White Town (Drev-Wen.) In the reign of 
Rhodri Mawr (Roderick the Great,) king of all Wales, A.D. 
843, a British Chieftain (Ynyr ab Cadfarch) built the Castle, 
which was afterwards possessed by his son, Tudor Trevor, 
subsequently Earl of Hereford. Tudor Trevor's mother was 
grand-daughter to Caradog Vreichvas, who fell in the me- 
morable battle at Rhuddlan Marsh, A.D. 795. The de- 
scendants of Tudor continued in possession of the Castle for 
many generations, and several of the leading families in 
North Wales can trace their origin to him. At the conquest 
Whittington became the property of Pain Peverel, and after- 
wards of Roger, Earl of Shrewsbury. The Castle and lordship 
next passed into the hands of Hugh, and subsequently of 
Robert, both sons of Roger, the before-named Earl. On the 
defeat and forfeiture of Robert, by an Act of Henry I., the 
property was restored to the Peverels, in the person of Sir 
William Peverel, distinguished for his noble and valiant en- 
terprises. He had two daughters; the youngest, named 
Mellet, of martial spirit, resolved to wed no one but the 
knight greatest in valour, and her father published this 
declaration, promising Whittington Castle as her dower. This 
announcement attracted the attention of many a gallant youth, 
and soon afterwards Peverel's domain at the Peak, near Castle- 
ton, Derbyshire, was the scene of contention for the fair prize. 
Among the combatants were a son of the King of Scotland, 
the Baron Burgoyne, and a noble Lorrainer, Gwarine de Metz, 
(Sheriff of Shropshire, and chief Counsellor to the Earl of 
Shrewsbury,) the latter of whom appeared with a shield of 
276 



WHITTINGTON. 

silver, and a proud peacock on his crest! To him the spirited 
Mellet was sincere, he having been declared victor. The 
son of this chivalrous pair was (i famed for deeds of arms," 
and their posterity, for nine generations, assumed the christian 
name of Fulk, and the common name of Fitz-Gwarine. The 
Castle of Whittington was possessed by the family from the 
end of the reign of Henry I. till the reign of Henry VIII. 
Gwarine de Metz died in the reign of Henry I. at Alberbury, 
the Abbey of which place he had founded, and there he was 
interred, his wife, the famous Mellet Peverel, and her son, the 
first Fulk Fitz-Gwarine, being present on the affecting occasion. 

This youth was as distinguished, in the arts of love and 
war, as his father. He became desperately enamoured with 
Hawys, the daughter of Sir Joos, of Normandy ; rescued the 
father from impending death, while in the hands of Walter 
Lacy and Sir Arnold de Lis, two inveterate enemies, and, as 
a reward for his gallantry and courage, received the hand in 
marriage of his beloved Hawys. Fulk Fitz-Gwarine was 
heroic in all his achievements, was knighted by Henry I., made 
steward of the King's Household, and Lieutenant of the 
Marches. In a skirmish with the Welsh, under Grufydd ab 
Cynan, he was defeated, and Whittington Castle fell into 
their hands. In the reign of Henry II. peace was made with 
Owen Gwynedd, the succeeding Prince of North Wales : the 
Castle was retained by Owen; and as some compensation for 
his loss, Fulk had the manor of Alston, in Gloucestershire, 
bestowed upon him. It is recorded, says the Rev. W. Davies, 
in his interesting " History of Whittington," that " Fulk Fitz- 
Gwarine, and John, son to Henry II. (afterwards King John,) 
were playing at chess together, when it happened that they 
disagreed, and the Prince gave Fulk a severe blow upon the 
head with the board, which the latter returned in such a 
violent manner as almost to kill the young Prince, a circum- 
stance, had it happened, not much to be regretted, were it not 
in consideration of the glorious Magna Charta afterwards 
277 



WHITTINGTON. 

obtained from him." Dovaston, in his fine descriptive poem, 
entitled " Fitz-Gwarine," makes his hero describe the quarrel 
in the following lines : — 

"Enough to name our last affray, 

The Prince his temper lost at play, 

The chess-board swung with coward sway, 

And hurl'd my head upon ; 

111 could the wrong my bosom brook, 

I sent him first a furious look, 

Then firm with knuckles clench' d I strook 

The pate of royal John." 

Fulk Fitz-Gwarine was succeeded by his eldest son, who bore 
the same name, and eclipsed his father by the brilliancy and 
skill of his military enterprises. He accompanied Richard I. 
in the Crusades, and was made Lord Marcher of Wales. 
At the commencement of King John's reign Whittington was 
in the hands of Maurice, brother to the Roger to whom Owen 
Gwynedd had presented it. Fulk Fitz-Gwarine applied to 
John for the restoration of the ancient property of his 
ancestors; but John rejected his application. Indignant at 
this treatment Fulk joined the Welsh sovereign, made battle 
against Maurice, in which the latter was slain. The English 
King determined upon having Fulk Fitz- Gwarine put to 
death, but the latter fled to France, under the nom de guerre 
of Sir Amice, a wandering knight, and was so much admired 
by the French monarch for his honourable and chivalrous 
conduct, that he tendered to him a barony of France. After 
having performed many acts of valour and renown in France, 
Fulk returned to England, determined to see King John and 
propitiate his favour. Fearing discovery, he exchanged 
clothes with a peasant, and wended his way to Windsor, to 
confront the monarch. In Windsor Forest they both met, 
John being out hunting, and Fulk appearing before the King 
as a peasant. Fulk made known to him his errand, and declared 
that he was the obnoxious Fitz-Gwarine; with the courage and 
dignity of his race he menaced the king for the unjust treat- 
ment he had received, and forced him to restore to his undis- 
278 



WHITTINGTON. 

turbed possession the Castle and lordship of Whittington, his 
ancestral property. John immediately repudiated his grant, and 
Fulk was again compelled to leave the kingdom, having been 
pursued by emissaries of the monarch, charged to slay him. 
Fitz-Gwarine was still as adroit as he was brave ; he killed 
the man who meditated his assassination, fled to Orkney, 
where he released a persecuted female from her captivity, and 
won a hauberk of hard steel, which, with other ancient pieces 
of armour belonging to his family, hung, till Cromwell's wars, 
in the church of Whittington. From Orkney Fulk sailed to 
Carthage, where he derived much information, his patriotism 
was inflamed, and where also his enthusiastic desire for the im- 
provement of his native country glowed with increased ardour. 
Wrapt in these visions of future glory and happiness, he 
re-embarked for England, arrived safely, appealed again to 
King John, obtained pardon for all past offences, and with it the 
restoration of Whittington Castle and all its appendages. 
Thus once more in possession of his ancient halls, he lived in 
the state and hospitality which became his princely condition. 
Then, as the author of " Fitz-Gwarine " so sweetly sings — 

" Other guests than yon lone bird, 
And other music here were heard, 
In times of better days ; 
Festive revelry went round, 
The board with blushing goblets crown' d, 
And costly carpets clad the ground, 

Where now yon cattle graze. 
Days were those of splendour high, 
Days of hospitality, 

When to his rich domain 
Welcom'd many a crested knight, 
Welcom'd many a lady bright, 

Fitz-Gwarine of Lorraine !" 

This remarkable man was afterwards sent by the English 

King to Ireland on an important service, and was distinguished 

on his return, with the title of The Great. He subsequently 

united with the English Barons in their memorable demand 

279 



WHITTINGTON. 

from King John of Magna Charta, and so resolute was his 
conduct on that great occasion at Runnymede, that the Pope 
actually conferred upon him the honour of excommunication 
from the papal church. 

After various other conflicts and disasters, " by flood and 
field," he descended into old age, when he was stricken with 
blindness. He was buried in the porch of Whittington 
Church, and his remains were found there in an oak coffin, 
three inches in thickness, by digging a grave in the year 1796. 
He left behind him a son who enjoyed his father's estates and 
titles, but for no considerable time. He followed Henry III. 
through all his adverse fortunes, and whilst engaged at the 
battle of Lewes was drowned in crossing a river, leaving 
behind him a young son, the fourth Fitz-Gwarine. 

Fitz-Gwarine the second was married to Clarice of Ab- 
bourville, and he went generally by the peculiar appellation 
of Proud-homme, as a mark of respect to his nobility. 

Whittington Castle, after the battle of Lewes, was bestowed 
by the Earl of Leicester upon Peter de Montford. Leicester 
also compelled the captive king Richard II. to deliver it, with 
other Border Castles, into the hands of Llywelyn ab Grufydd, 
Prince of Wales, who had just received the entire sovereignty 
of Wales, and required homage from all the barons under him. 

The subsequent history of the Fitz-Gwarines presents but 
few interesting features. This illustrious race became extinct 
at the death of Henry, fifth Earl of Bath (who inherited the 
title of Fitz-Gwarine through the marriage of Elizabeth, sister 
and heiress to Fulk the ninth, with Richard Haukford, Esq.,) 
and the manor, after various transfers in succeeding ages, 
was purchased by Francis (or William) Albany, Esq., of 
London, from one of the Earls of Arundel, it having been 
granted to him by Queen Mary, but afterwards mortgaged 
and sold. The manor, advowsons, and estate of Fernhill 
passed subsequently to the house of Aston, by the marriage of 
280 



WHITTINGTON. 

Sarah, daughter and heiress of the said Francis Albany, Esq., 
to Thomas Lloyd, Esq., of Aston. In the year 1760 the 
eastern tower of the Castle fell into the moat after a severe frost, 
and some years afterwards one of the northern towers and the 
western wall were taken down to repair, it is said, the road 
leading from Whittington to Halston bridge. 

The remains of the Castle are still a picturesque ruin, which 
attracts artists from all parts of the kingdom to sketch its 
lingering beauties. Our own artist has done justice to the 
Castle in the sketch he has taken. The towers of the gate-house 
are still entire, and part of the ancient building is converted 
into a dwelling, and occupied by Thomas Broughall, Esq. A 
running brook passes through the moat, which is overhung with 
fine old trees, casting their shade upon the waters. In the year 
1796 three curious bottles, richly gilt, were found, and subse- 
quently, in clearing the bottom of one of the old towers, some 
huge iron fetters, a gyve of ponderous size, with a number of 
the heads and antlers of deer. The Castle, from its position 
on the frontier of Wales, and from the warlike spirit of its 
lords, was in feudal times a place of great consequence, and, 
like other border fortresses, alternately the scene of clashing 
arms and knightly festivity. 

The church, which is dedicated to St. John, is a rectory in 
the archdeaconry and diocese of St. Asaph, and was originally 
designed as a chapel to the castle. The body of the church 
was rebuilt in 1805, from a design by the late Mr. Thomas 
Harrison, architect, of Chester. It is a large brick building 
of 60 feet by 50, and cost £1500. To lessen the expense of 
building the church two briefs were procured that raised 
£703 15s. Id., but of this sum only £42 2s. Id. was received. 
In 1810 a new organ was erected in the church. In the same 
year the church-yard wall, being much out of repair, was re- 
built with stone. The Rev. Charles Arthur Albany Lloyd, 
who had filled the office of Rector for many years, died July 
24th, 1851, he being also Rector of Selattyn at the time. 
281 



WHITTINGTON. 

Whittington parish is divided into nine townships, namely, 
— Whittington to the south ; Berghill and Francton (or 
Frankton) to the east ; old Marton (or Martin), Hindford, 
Henlle, and Ebnall, to the north ; and Fernhill and Daywell 
to the west. 

In a manuscript description of the parish we find the 
following derivation of names : — 

Whittington, or White Town, from White Castle, in 
Welsh, Drewen. 

Berghill— Welsh, Byr-Ghill, or Short Hazles. 
Hindford— „ Hen-fordd, or The Old Road. 
Henlle — „ Hen, old, and Lie, Place. 
Daywell — ,, Fynnon du, or dydd. Day Spring (or 

well). 
Fernhill — ,, Fwrn and Oven, or Hole and Hill. 

A tradition long prevailed in the village, that it was the 
birth-place of the renowned Sir Richard Whittington, "thrice 
Lord Mayor of London town." It is now, however, generally 
understood that he was born in the township of Newnes, (not 
far from Whittington,) about one mile north-west of 
Ellesmere. Shropshire claims him for her own ; and if 
Whittington really was "a proud Salopian," the county has 
a right to be proud of the honour of enrolling among its 
worthies so distinguished a name. Another vague tradition 
prevailed, that the w r ell-known metrical tale of " The Babes 
in the Wood" derives its origin from Babins' wood, (commonly 
called Bobbys' wood,) near Whittington. The tradition adds, 
that the murder of the two children by their cruel uncle was 
perpetrated at this place. Gough, the historian of Middle, 
relates particulars of the murder of a child by its uncle, but 
his account is only from tradition, and therefore mixed up 
with much error. 

The version we now give of this murder, derived from an 
authentic source, shews that the ballad of the Babes in the 
282 



WHITTINGTON. 

Wood could not have been founded upon it. The scene of the 
nursery rhyme is laid in Norfolk, and all the circumstances it 
details differ materially from those of the murder at Knockin 
heath. The version we have is as follows: — "1590,27th 
March. — A. man and woman were executed at Knockin heath, 
for murdering a child of the age of five years, for his land, 
being an heir of £5 a-year, or thereabout, which fell after the 
said child's death, if he died without issue, to his uncles, 
being three of them, which uncles procured and imagined the 
death of the said child ever since his birth. Two of the 
uncles were executed at Bridgenorth assizes, and the third 
pressed to death there. But the woman being grandmother 
to the child, and the man named Geffrey Elkes, being hired 
to do the deed, were executed at the said heath where the said 
deed was done." "Elkes, at his execution, affirmed that he 
did not kill the child, but brought a pail of water to the 
heath, and left it there with the child and the uncle that was 
pressed to death, but he confessed that before the deed was 
done, and after, two ravens usually would meet him, follow 
him, and cry about him ; and when he escaped and hid him- 
self, the said ravens did cry, and flew about the place, and 
descried him out, and he was found in a cock of hay by their 
means." 

The parish register is a curious record of odds and ends, 
and from it we make a few quaint selections : — 

" Died March llth, 1767. — Thomas Evans, parish clerk, aged 72. 

' Old Sternhold's lines, or Vicar of Bray, 
Which he tun'd best is hard to say.' 

I do make choice of William Evans, his son, to serve the office of parish 
clerk, being qualified according to the 91st canon, viz : above twenty years 
of age, and of an honest conversation, and very sufficient for his reading, 
writing, and also for his competent skill in singing, tho' not so clever a 
piper as his father. This choice was signified to the parishioners in time of 
divine service, on Sunday, the 15th day of March, 1767. 

(Signed) by me, W. Roberts, Rr." 



283 



WHITTINGTON. 

* 

" 1776. — Andrew Williams, in Whittington, aged 84, Decoy-man 
under the Aston family, at the Decoy, in this parish, above 60 years : — 
" Here lies the Decoy-man, who liv'd like an otter, 
Dividing his time between land and water : 
His hide he oft soak'd in the waters of Perry, 
Whilst Aston old beer his spirits kept cheery ; 
Amphibious his trim, Death was puzzl'd, they say, 
How to dust to reduce such well-moisten' d clay. 
So Death turn'd Decoy-man, and decoy'd him to land, 
Where he fix'd his abode till quite dried to the hand ; 
He then found him fitting for crumbling to dust, 
And here he lies mould'ring, as you and I must." 



Samuel Peate, of Whittington Castle, died, aged 84. 

" Here lies Governor Peate, 
Whom no man did hate, 
At the age of four-score, 
And four years more, 
He pretended to wrestle 
With Death, for his castle, 
But was soon out of breath, 
And surrender' d to Death, 
Who away did him take, 
At the eve of our Wake, 
One morn about seven, 
To keep Wake in heaven." 



Nov. 29th, 1780. — Sarah Browne, of Babe's Wood, widow, aged 76. 
"EPITAPH. 
" Here lies Mammy Brown, 
Who oft sung ding and down 
Over many a brat ; 
And what of all that 1 
Why she sung herself down, 
So here lies Mammy Brown. 
N.B. — She nursed many children besides her own." 



There are several useful and important charities pertaining 
to Whittington parish. Jones's charity of 1670, and Griffith 
Hughes's bequest in 1706, provide for the education of the 
284 



WHITTINGTON. 

boys of the parish, as that of Elizabeth Probert does for the 
girls. These bequests are now applied to the National Schools 
established in the village. 

The old National Schools being too small for the increasing 
population of the parish, a new School House, for the ac- 
commodation of Boys and Girls, was erected in the year 1853, 
on the site of the former Boys' School, at a cost of £900, after 
a design by Messrs W. and J. Morris, Builders, 8jc, of 
Oswestry, by whom also the structure was erected. The 
present much-respected Rector is the Rev. William Walsham 
How, who purchased the living in the life-time, and succeeded 
to it on the death, of the Rev. C. A. A. Lloyd. 

The parish of Whittington contains 8,303a. 3r. lOp. ; 
gross rental, £13,145 5s. 0d.; rateable value, £12,867 10s. Od. 

It is worthy of record in our notice of Whittington, that the 
admirable Missionary Hymn, from the pen of the late Bishop 
Heber, " From Greenland's icy mountains," was written 
especially for a public meeting of the friends of Missions, held 
in the village about the year 1820, at which the poet Heber 
attended. The hymn was sung on that occasion for the first 
time ; but since then how many thousand voices, in every part 
of the habitable globe, have been raised in tuneful melodies 
whilst pouring forth this immortal strain ! Heber's hymn 
ranks with the sacred songs of our best poets, and has urged 
many a Christian heart to the heaven-born work of spreading 
the gospel throughout the heathen world. 

Amongst the pleasant retreats in the neighbourhood of 
Whittington are Belmont, the residence of J. V. Lovett, Esq., 
an active and intelligent Magistrate for the county; Fernhill, 
about one mile from Whittington, the seat of Thomas Lovett, 
Esq., also an able county Magistrate; and the Derwen, 
the house of John Povey, Esq., a gentleman much respected 
in the district. 
285 



WYNNSTAY, 
The beautiful seat of Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart., M. P. for 
Denbighshire, is within twenty minutes' railway ride from 
Oswestry. The talent, wealth, and princely hospitality of 
the Wynnstay family have given to this mansion and its ex- 
tensive domains a national celebrity. The late Sir W. W. Wynn 
(father of the present worthy baronet) did much to maintain 
the high character for hospitality and munificent liberality 
for which the House of Wynnstay has ever been distinguished, 
and his memory is embalmed in grateful recollections by 
hundreds who partook of his bounty and were generously 
aided by his purse and patronage. 

Wynnstay is situated in the parish of Rhuabon, and is 
erected on the site of a residence of Madog ab Grufydd Maelor, 
Prince of Powys, and founder of the abbey of Llanegwest, 
or Valle Cruris, near Llangollen. The original name of this 
house was Rhuabon. It was the property of Edward Eyton, 
Esq., whose daughter Mary, the heiress, married Richard 
Evans, Esq., son of Thomas Evans, Esq., of Oswestry, 
attorney-general in the Court of the Marches. Their grand- 
son, Eyton Evans, (son of Thomas, son of Richard,) altered 
the name to JFa^-stay, on account of its proximity to Watts' 
Dyke; and Jane, sole daughter and heiress of Eyton Evans, 
Esq., married Sir John Wynn, who again changed the name 
to Wynnstay, in compliment to his own family, he being 
grandson of Sir John Wynn, of Gwydir, by his tenth son, 
Henry, representative for Merionethshire. The above-named 
Sir John Wynn, of Wynnstay, left that and other estates of 
great value to his kinsman, the first Sir Watkin Williams 
Wynn, grandson of Sir William Williams, Speaker of the 
House of Commons in the reign of Charles II., and in the 
early part of his career Recorder of Chester. Sir William was 
one of the most successful lawyers of his time, and was a zealous 
and eloquent advocate of the popular party in Charles's reign. 
The notorious Jeffreys was reprimanded, on his knees, by him 
286 



WYNNSTAY. 

whilst he was Speaker of the House of Commons ; who also 
conducted the prosecution of the Seven Bishops, when solicitor- 
general ; and the "Treating Act," which still continues one 
of the safeguards of the purity and independence of Parliament, 
was introduced by him in the House of Commons. This 
celebrated lawyer was made a baronet in 1688. He married 
Margaret, daughter and heiress of Watkin Kyffin, Esq., of 
Glascoed, in the parish of Llansilin, near Oswestry. He left 
two sons, and the elder, Sir William, of Llanforda, married 
another great heiress, Jane, the daughter of Edward Thelwall, 
Esq., of Plas-y-ward, and was father, as already mentioned, 
of the first Sir Watkin Williams Wynn. The Speaker's 
youngest son, John, was an eminent provincial lawyer, and 
practised at Chester, and was direct progenitor of the present 
Sir John Williams, of Bodelwyddan, Flintshire. 

The mansion is a noble pile of building, of fine white stone, 
and has, recently, under the direction of the present possessor 
of Wynnstay, undergone much improvement. The interior 
comprises several noble apartments, which are embellished 
with paintings by the first masters, portraits of various mem- 
bers of the family, and busts by eminent sculptors, ol the 
distinguished statesmen Lord Grenville, William Pitt, &c. 
The library consists of a fine collection of books, in ancient 
and modern literature, with valuable MSS. illustrative of early 
British history. Among the variety of plate, including elegant 
race-cups, &c, is a large silver vase, or punch-bowl, presented 
to the late SirW. W.Wynn, by his countrymen, on his return 
from the battle of Waterloo. 

The grounds in which the house is situated are remarkable 
for their sylvan beauty. The avenue leading to the mansion 
from Rhuabon is formed of fine oak, elm, beech, and other 
trees, one of which, "The King," measuring thirty feet in 
circumference, and with its outspreading arms appearing to 
bid defiance to its fellows, seems to have a just claim to the 
monarchical title it bears. A fine sheet of water in front of 
287 



WYNNSTAY. 

the house adds much to the picturesque and deeply-wooded 
scenery around. Both the near and distant views from the 
park are distinct and attractive, those especially towards the 
Berwyn chain of mountains, with the grand breach in it beyond 
Llangollen, through which rolls the rapid Dee. An obelisk 
or handsome free-stone column is erected in the park, after a 
design by Wyatt, as a tribute of maternal affection,, in memory 
of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, grandfather of the present 
baronet. Round the entablature is a gallery, with a circular 
iron balustrade, nine feet high, in the centre of which stands a 
handsome urn in' bronze. The plinth is wreathed with oak 
leaves descending from the beaks of eagles. A door-way leads 
by a wide stair-case, to a gallery at the top. On the lower 
part of the Cenotaph is the following emphatic inscription : — 

"Filio Optimo. 
Mater cheu! superstes." 

Although this column cannot be seen from the house, a glimpse 
ot it may be caught on the left side of the railway, in passing 
from Rhuabon towards Oswestry. The Nant-y-Bela Tower, in 
"The Dingle of the Marten," is another Cenotaph, erected by 
the late Sir W. W. Wynn, after a design by Sir Jeffrey Wyatt- 
ville, in memory of his brother officers and private soldiers 
slain in Ireland during the rebellion of 1798. It stands on an 
eminence, and commands a view of the Vale of Llangollen, 
for several miles. The Waterloo Tower, close also to the 
railway, is another ornament to the park. 

In the days of Sir W. W. Wynn, grandfather to the present 
baronet, theatrical performances were often given during 
the Christmas Holydays, in a neat theatre near the house, 
erected for the purpose. David Garrick, "the British, 
Roscius," as he was called, frequently superintended these 
histrionic displays, where wit and revelry prevailed. The 
surrounding nobility and gentry participated in these festivities, 
which uniformly passed off with eclat. The late Sir W. W. 
Wynn divested this Thespian Temple of its ornaments, and 
288 



BROOM HALL. 

appropriated it for an annual agricultural meeting, as an 
auxiliary to the society at Wrexham. An annual show of 
cattle was held at Wynnstay, where premiums were adjudged, 
for the best of every species of stock, for ploughing the 
greatest number of acres, with two horses a-breast, without a 
driver, &c. This bucolic fete was generally held in September, 
when a numerous assemblage of practical agriculturists at- 
tended. A dinner at the hall followed, where covers were laid 
for five or six hundred persons. The tables groaned beneath 
the weight of viands, including fine samples of roast beef and 
unctuous venison; "rosy wine" spread its charms along 
the festive board, and "old October," from the cellars of 
Wynnstay, were handed round in huge flagons worthy of the 
merriest days of Cambria. On these occasions Sir Watkin 
generally presided, and did the honours of the table with an 
urbanity and cheerful hospitality that endeared him to all his 
visitors. 

The present Sir W. W. Wyim represents in parliament the 
county of Denbigh, is Steward of the Lordships of Bromfield 
and Yale, and is Lieutenant- Colonel of the Montgomeryshire 
Yeomanry Cavalry. 



Among the more attractive residences in the immediate 
suburbs of the town the following elaim a brief notice : — 



o 



Broom Hall, the residence of Mrs. Aubrey, widow of the 
late H. P. T. Aubrey, Esq., is situated near to the town, on 
the west side. Mr. Aubrey died in 1848. [See p. 143.] 
Drenewydd stands about a mile and a-half from Oswestry, 
on the road leading to Whittington, is a very ancient house, 
and has some interesting historical facts connected with it. 
It was formerly the residence of Edward Lloyd, Esq., eldest 
son of Marmaduke Lloyd, Esq., by Penelope, daughter of 
Charles Goodman, Esq. He was eminent for his learning, 
and after a long and diligent search into ancient records, wrote 
289 V 



MOUNT PLEASANT. 

a history of his native county, but did not live to publish it. 
A MS. copy of his learned works is preserved in the Bodleian 
Library, Oxford. He was elected Mayor of Oswestry in 1 707 ; 
in which office, it is recorded of him, "he corrected many ex- 
isting abuses." He left an only son, Charles, who was the last 
in the male line of the Drenewydd family. The old house at 
Drenewydd is now the property of William Ormsby Gore, 
Esq,, and is occupied as a farm house. Mount Pleasant, 
the seat of Thomas L. Longueville, Esq., (a gentleman 
distinguished for his public and private worth,) is situated 
about one mile from Oswestry, on the road leading to Llansilin. 
Oakhurst, a newly-erected mansion, about one mile north- 
west of Oswestry, on the road leading to Selattyn, commands 
extensive and delightful views of the surrounding country, 
including the Vale of Salop and the Breidden hills. It is 
built in the Elizabethan style of architecture, and is the pro- 
perty and residence of R. J. Venables, Esq., one of the 
Magistrates of the county, and a Director of the Great Western 
and Oswestry and Newtown Railway Companies. The family 
of Mr. Venables have for many years been honourably con- 
nected with the borough of Oswestry. At Rhyd-y-Croesau 
is the residence of the Rev. Robert Williams, author of 
" Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Welshmen." Mr. 
Williams is a profound scholar, and his location in the dis- 
trict, at the head of an ably-conducted school, may be looked 
upon as a great advantage to the inhabitants generally. 
Pentrepant, the property of T. G. Warrington Carew, Esq., is 
the residence of Colonel Frederick Hill. It is about one mile 
from Oswestry, on the road to Selattyn. The estate was for many 
generations in the Hanmer family, and John Hanmer, Bishop of 
St. Asaph, resided here. He died in 1629, and was buried 
in the church of Selattyn, to the poor of which parish, and 
also of Oswestry and St. Asaph, he gave £15 to be equally 
divided between them. Penylan is a very beautiful House, 
about one mile from Oswestry. The pleasure-grounds and 

shrubberies are laid out with much taste and skill. It is the 
290 



SWEENEY HALL. 

residence of Mrs. Longueville, (Widow of the late T. L. 
Longueville, Esq.,) a lady of enlarged benevolence, and who 
has ever shewn herself ready to alleviate the sufferings of the 
poorer classes of the district. Sweeney Hall, situated about 
two miles from Oswestry, on the left of the road to Welshpool, is 
a handsome mansion built of freestone, and beautifully placed 
in the midst of a well-timbered park. The house was erected 
by the late Thomas Netherton Parker, Esq., a gentleman who 
Will be long remembered as an active and impartial Magistrate 
of the county ; as an enlightened landed proprietor ; and a 
liberal and warm-hearted friend to the poor of his district. 
Mr. Parker was an able writer on agricultural and social 
economy, and some clever essays from his pen show how 
intimately acquainted he was with the condition of the rural 
population of all classes. He was an ardent promoter of 
agriculture, and most assiduously employed himself for its 
practical advancement. The estate is now the property of his 
Son, the Rev. John Parker, Vicar of Llanyblodwel, and the house 
is occupied by Hugh Beavor, Esq. Some particulars relative 
to the ancient burial-ground upon the estate are given in page 
153. Wood Hill Hall, about two miles from Oswestry, 
en the right of the road to Llanymynech, was formerly the 
property of L. J. Venables, Esq., but has recently been pur- 
chased, and is now occupied by J. Lees, Esq. 



In closing our Sketches of the Environs, a brief reference 
to Chirk and Llangollen Vale, both being Within half an 
hour's railway ride from Oswestry, seems to be necessary. 



Chirk is situated upon the northern bank of the river 
Ceiriog, and is a pleasant and somewhat picturesque village. 
The entire parish is the property of Col. Myddelton Biddulph. 
The church, dedicated to St. Mary, contains an interesting 
monument of the gallant Sir Thomas Myddelton; and in the 
church-yard are some fine yew trees, the growth of centuries. 
291 



CHIRK. 

There is an excellent inn in the village, The Chirk Castle 
Arms, kept by Mr. Moses, who is also post-master there. 
From the poor-rate return for the present year (1855), it ap- 
pears that the acreage of the parish is 4,635a. 3r. 29p. ; the 
gross rental, £9,401 8s. 4d. ; and the rateable value assessed 
to the relief of the poor, £9,308 2s. Id. The present much- 
respected Vicar is the Rev. Joseph Maude, who is also, as. 
already stated, Chairman of the Board of the Oswestry 
Incorporation. The Vale of the Ceiriog, like that of the 
Dee, generally attracts the attention of railway travellers, 
from its singular beauty and historical associations. It is 
crossed by a Viaduct of the Great Western Railway, and 
by an Aqueduct also, extending along the Ellesmere canal 
upon long ranges of arches at a considerable elevation. 
Llangollen Vale is only a few minutes' ride from Chirk, 
and, we need not add, " the admired of all observers." 
The tourist is amazed with the first view obtained of it ; its 
hills and slopes display enchanting spots, and the beauty of 
the natural scenery is increased by the massive elegance of 
Robertson's railway viaduct across the Dee, and the classic 
grace of Telford's aqueduct. The Vale, on both sides the 
river Dee, is at length brought to a high state of cultivation. 
Looking down the valley from the railway viaduct, or from 
the more elevated portions of the Holyhead road, the scene 
presents a strange admixture of beauty and ugliness ; and a 
stranger, for the first time viewing the scene, would declare, "I 
see nothing but smoke." On the north side of the river are 
the extensive iron works of the New British Iron Company, 
disgorging smoke and flame day and night, and on the oppo- 
site side of the river are the Vron limestone quarries and kilns, 
equally active in discharging huge volumes of vapour. The 
tourist must pass on from these manufacturing localities, and 
his eye will soon rest upon scenery of surpassing loveliness 
and grandeur. The wood-crowned heights of Trevor, the 
Eglwyseg and Berwyn range of mountains, the old battered 

fortress, Castell Dinas Bran, the luxuriant Vale, which presents 
292 



LLANGOLLEN. 

the form of a capacious amphitheatre, and the Dee, winding its 
course over beds of clay-slate, limestone, and granitic boulders, 
— these, with abundance of full-grown timber, snug villas, 
white-washed cottages, and well-managed farms, with fertile 
fields and well-farmed hill-sides, show of what materials the 
panoramic valley is composed. Could Moore have viewed it, as 
we have done on a bright summer day, he would have been 
constrained to quote his own beautiful line, 

" The valley lies smiling before me." 

Of Llangollen itself we shall attempt no description. Its 
charms have been transmitted to glowing canvass and sung 
in rapturous verse from Anna Seward downwards ; its hostel- 
ries, the Hand and the Royal Hotels, its "trouts," its moun- 
tain mutton, sparkling ale, and other delicacies, have too long 
been the " household words" of tourists, album-writers, and 
after-dinner orators, to render eulogium or even " faint praise" 
from us in the slightest degree necessary. 

After these poetic visions it is difficult to descend to sober 
reality. The tourist, generally speaking, unless he be a 
botanist, a geologist, or an artist, penetrates little beyond the 
public highway, except in those localities distinguished by a 
waterfall, an ancient castle, or a noble residence. Thousands 
of people, from the manufacturing districts, cannot in their 
visits to the Principality do more than give a passing glance 
to the country through which they hurriedly travel. In the 
immediate vicinity of the turnpike-roads on both sides of 
the Dee the land there lets at a high price, and, generally 
speaking, is ably farmed ; and ascending the hills, to the heights 
of ten or twelve hundred feet, most of the little inclosures 
occupied by small farmers, or by parties engaged principally 
in other occupation than that of agriculture, are also well culti- 
vated, and fetch a rental of from 30s. to 40s. per acre. Some 
twenty years ago the mountain-land in the Vale of Llangollen 
was deemed common, and but few habitations were erected 
294 



LLANGOLLEN. 

upon it ; but at the present time neat cottage-dwellings for 
the industrious poor are raised in clusters, and most of the 
land attached to them is farmed with a skill and success that 
would put to the blush many a professed agriculturist. No 
doubt that this comparatively high price for mountain-land is 
caused by the large number of working-men employed in the 
various manufacturing and other working establishments in 
the neighbourhood. Such men require small portions of 
what is called occupation land, on which to feed a cow and 
grow a little wheat, barley, oats, and potatoes. To them the 
land even at the price is an advantage ; but still it is a fact 
worthy of note, that mountain-land in this busy district is 
in great demand, and whenever let fetches a high rental. 
Such is the influence of manufactures upon agriculture, both of 
which, as Sir Josiah Child said years ago, "must wax or 
wane together," 



OSWESTRY: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GEORGE LEWIS. 



CORRIGENDA. 



Some few typographical and other errors have occurred in the progress of 
the volume, which we are anxious to correct. 

In page 210, line 13, for "old transparent," read "cool transparent.'' 

In page 223, line 3, for "carbonate of zinc," read " carbonate and 
sulphuret of zinc." 

In page 251, line 4, for " Procapella de Coton," read " Pro capella de 
Coten" 
In the List of Illustrations, for " Corn Market," read "Cross Market." 



THE POST-OFFICE. 
Since our notice of the Post-Office was printed, a new postal arrangement 
has been made, by which Letters to the north and south can now be posted, 
without extra charge, till eight o'clock, p.m.; and, with an extra stamp, till 
half-past eight. — Money Orders can be obtained till 5, p.m.; and Letters 
registered till 7, p.m. 



LLANGOLLEN. 

upon it ; but at the present time neat cottage-dwellings for 

the industrious poor are raised in clusters, and most of the 

land attached to them is farmed with a skill and success that 

-u, t.i„ t, TYianv a nrofessed agriculturist. No 



OSWESTRY: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GEORGE LEWIS. 






ADVERTISEMENTS. 



THE UNITED KINGDOM TEMPERANCE 

AND 

GENERAL PROVIDENT INSTITUTION, 
FOR THE MUTUAL ASSURANCE OF LIVES, &c, 

1, Adelaide Place, London Bridge, London. 

Established 1840. 

ACCUMULATED CAPITAL, 125,000. 

This flourishing Institution has just completed its financial year, within 
which it has accepted One Thousand Eight Hundred Proposals for As- 
surances, covering considerably more than a Quarter of a Million Sterling. 
It has issued 4,640 Policies, making, since its commencement, an aggre- 
gate of more than Ten Thousand. Its present income is above £45,000 
per annum. It has paid in claims, chiefly to the Widows and Orphans 
of its members, £36,000. 

The Temperance and General Sections are kept separate, the members 
of each participating in the Profits of their respective Sections. The 
Office transacts every description of Life Assurance. 

W. R. BAKER, Resident Director. 

JOHN WINDSOR, AGENT FOR OSWESTRY. 

Of whom Prospectuses &c. may be obtained. 



ME. JAMES EDISBURY, 

Startnram, itttnnt Ipprakr, Irrmmtattt, 



aEreifjara. 



All Sale Accounts immediately settled. — Valuations for the Probate 
of Wills and Administrations faithfully and promptly attended to. 



* 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



GEOKGE LEWIS, 

printer, Booftsrtler, Stationer, JSooftirmtar, 

MACHINE RULER, & NEWS AGENT, 
LEG STREET, OSWESTRY. 

G. L. has constantly on hand a well- selected Stock of 

DAY BOOKS, JOURNALS, LEDGEES, 

And every description of ACCOUNT BOOKS. 



%Mw, |fanpr3, mtfi Cjrorrji $nmm, 

In the most elegant Bindings. 

SCHOOL BOOKS AND STATIONERY, 

ON THE LOWEST TERMS. 

A GREAT VARIETY OF CHEAP MUSIC 

FINE ART, SCRIPTURAL, & OTHER ENGRAVINGS, 

At very reduced prices. 



Magazines, Heviews, and all New "Works, supplied punctually on 
the Day of Publication. 



LONDON AND DUBLIN PORTER, 

AND 

MILD AND BITTER ALES, 

From the first Breweries in England. 

JOSElrafjONES 

Being anxious to afford his friends and all respectable private families 
who may be kind enough to patronize him, an opportunity of having their 
requirements supplied upon the very best terms, begs to state that they 
may always rely upon an excellent Stock of all the above-mentioned of 
the"most superior quality to select from, and which will be delivered with- 
out the least delay after being ordered. 

Cross Street, Oswestry, October, 1855. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



ROBEKT ROBERTS, 

fe ^rnjtratnr, Injkaulit engineer, 

PLUMBER, CLAZIER, QAS-FITTER, &c, 

Begs to return his most grateful thanks to his numerous friends and 
patrons for the very liberal support he has received the last half century, 
and begs to inform them and the Public generally, that he still continues 
the above business in all its branches as heretofore, and hopes to merit a 
share of their continued support. 

He has now on hand every requisite in the PLUMBING, GLAZING, 
and GAS-FITTING line. Also a large assortment of first-rate Gas- 
fittings, of elegant designs, in glass. Bronze and Lacquered work, from 
which may be selected, patterns suited to every requirement of the 
palace or the cottage. 

Brook Street, Oswestry, October, 1855. 



WILLIAM COENEY, 

JKjctoale ©ealer in .foreign artti JSritisIj 
Wines anti Spirits, 

MANUFACTURER OF 

Soda Water, Lemonade, & Ginger Beer, 

Families and the trade supplied with 

WINES IN ANY QUANTITIES TO SUIT PURCHASERS. 

Either in Cask or Bottle. 

FRENCH BRANDY, GIN, RUM, WHISKEY, HOLLANDS, 

And all other Spirits, in quantities of two gallons and upwards. 
Parties purchasing as above will reap a decided advantage, both in quality 
and price, and a trial is most respectfully solicited. W. C. has constantly 
on hand at his CONFECTIONARY ESTABLISHMENT, a general 
assortment of plain and ornamented Bride, Plum, Seed, Almond and 
other Cakes, in great variety, and of the best quality. 

FUNERAL ORDERS EXECUTED ON THE SHORTEST NOTICE. 

Haylock's Arrowroot Biscuits, British Wines, Pickles, Sauces, Rasp- 
berry Vinegar, &c, &c. 

WINE AND SPIRIT STORES, SMITHFIELD ROAD. 

CONFECTIONARY ESTABLISHMENT, CROSS-STREET. 

Oswestry, 1855. 



* 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



Minim MliatM, 

1, KING ALFRED'S PLACE, 

Near Bingley, Hall, Broad-Street, Birmingham, 

MANUFACTURER OF 

IMPROVED BLINDS FOR SHOP FRONTS, 

SPRING ROLLERS, from 1 to 5in. diameter, 



AN IMPROVED PRINCIPLE, ALL SIZES, 



Pollers antr 3ron OTorft for Bonnet Blmtis, 
VENETIAN BLIND FURNITURE, 

Cornice Poles, with Rings, 

BLINDS FOR GREEN-HOUSES, SKY-LIGHTS, ETC, 

In Boxes, and every other description of 

BLIND FURNITURE 8c FITTINGS. 



ESTABLISHED A. P. 1803. 



J. EDISBUEY, & Co. 



(LATE RATCLIFFES) 



ft? jjnlraale ntih %tkli €m Mm, 

Family Grocers, 

CHEES£ FACTORS, AC, 
TOWN HILL, OPPOSITE THE TOWN HALL, 

WREXHAM. 



SALOP FIRE OFFICE, 

SHREWSBURY. 

ESTABLISHED 1780. 

TRUSTEES : 
The Rt. Hon. the Viscount Hill, Lord Lieutenant of the County of Salop. 
Robert Burton, Esq. { George Pritchard, Esq. 

DIRECTORS: 

J. J. Peele, Esq. 
W. H. Perry, Esq. 
Timotheus Burd, Esq. 
William Cooper, Esq. 
John Hazledine, Esq. 
. Secretary — Mr. Edward B. Tipton. 

The advantages offered to Insurers are equal to those of similar Institutions, 
and a large PAID-UP Capital, together with the individual and unlimited re- 
sponsibility of the Shareholders is available at all times to meet the Company's 
engagements. 

THE RATES OF PREMIUM: 

Common Risks - - - Is. 6d. $» cent. 
Hazardous ditto - - - 2s. 6d. ,, 



Jonathon Scarth, Esq. 
W. W. How, Esq. 
R. Jones, Croxon, Esq. 
Charles Wilding, Esq. 



FARMING STOCK: 

Premium only (being free from Duty) 



2 s. $* cent. 



Persons insuring for Seven Years, BY ONE PAYMENT, -will be allowed 
One Year' s Premium and Duty. No expense is incurred in removing Policies 
from other Offices. 



AGENTS: 

Oswestry - Mr. G. Lewis, Stamp Office. 

Ellesmere - Messrs. Cooley and Son. 

Whitchurch - Mr. R. M. Angior. 

Wem - Mr. Josiah Franklin. 

Chester - Mr. Henry Lewis. 

Wrexham - Mr. John Bury. 

Dolgelley - Mr. "V\£lliam Jones. 

Corwen - - - W. B. Williams, 'Esq. 

Llanidloes - Mr. Willjam Jerman, Jun. 

Newtown - Messrs. WoosnanT$& "Lloyd. 

Welchpool - Thomas Bowen, Esq. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



S. HOWARD COOMBES, 

BOOT MANUFACTURER, 

CROSS STREET, OSWESTRY. 

AGENT TO THE TEMPERANCE PERMANENT LAND & BUILDING SOCIETY. 

JOHN WINDSOR, 
Agricultural Implement Manufacturer, 

Begs to call Public attention to his 

STOCK OF IMPLEMENTS, 

CONSISTING OF 

CAMBRIDGES & PLAIN LAND ROLLERS, 

Corn, manure, turnip, & Cio&er <Seetr 33rilfe, 

With the latest improvements. 

STEAM ENGINES, 

(PORTABiE OK FIXTURE,) 

PATENT THRASHING MACHINES, 

Of the most approved makes ; 

WINNOWING MACHINES, 

AND 

CHAFF-CUTTERS OF VARIOUS KINDS. 

Wire- work of every kind executed on the shortest notice. 



N.B. — Agent for Milners' Fire -resisting and Thief-proof Safes. 



* : 

ADVERTISEMENTS. 



EDWAKD WYNNE THOMAS, 
Linen and Woollen Draper, Silk Mercer 

AND 

GROCER AND TEA DEALER, 

©gfoestrjr, 

Invites the attention of the Public to the following announcements, viz : — 



IN GENERAL 



He has constantly in stock a large assortment of goods suitable to the various 

seasons, and is receiving from time to time the newest designs and 

styles as they appear. 



MILLINEKY IN ALL ITS BKANCHES, 



TO ORDEH. 



M pate ffioote for jFurmsfjtng arttr ©cusitfjolti 
purposes, as foell as for Personal ffltor, 

He is particularly careful to secure the best and most durable makes, and 
which he can confidently recommend. 

A LARGE ASSORTMENT OF WEST OF ENGLAND BROAD-CLOTHS, AND 
FANCY DOESKINS, WESTINGS, XC, &C. 

AGENT FOR 
PATENT VICTORIA FELT CARPETS. 
TINSLEY'S FRENCH WOVE CORSETS. 
FORD'S EUREKA SHIRTS & COLLARS. 



FINE FLAVOURED TEAS AND COFFEES, 
^ntr e&erg Article in general ffiroeerg, 

Great care being taken to secure the GrENUINESS of every Article. 

FAMILIES SUPPLIED ON THE MOST ADVANTAGEOUS TERMS. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



LOCAL NEWS. 



THE ONLY NEWSPAPER THAT GIVES ALL THE LOCAL 
INTELLIGENCE OF THIS DISTRICT IS THE 

OSWESTRY ADVERTISER, 

.gfjropsfjire & IJortfj iffltafeg Herafo, 

Published every Wednesday Morning. 

Each number contains the London markets of Monday, and the Liverpool 
of Tuesday, accurately reported ; a summary of General News ; Tele- 
graphic Dispatches of Latest Intelligence } besides a quantity of Local 
News not to be found in any other paper. Orders for the Paper and 
Advertisements to be .given to the Publisher, 

J, ASKEW ROBERTS, BAILEY HEAD, OSWESTRY. 



EDWAED DAVIES, 
Confectioner, Pastry Cook, Biscuit Baker, 

And Dealer in all kinds of Fancy Cheese, 

©BOSS S'SKBHiMPa ©SWSBSSKB^a 

BBIB1 SKB 4c FWIltt WEBm, 

On the shortest notice. 



SUPERIOR 



BRITISH WINES, JAMS, JELLIES, PICKLES & SAUCES. 

Agent for the Dublin China Tea Company's Teas. 
„ Castle Lansdown & Cos. celebrated Coffees. 
„ Feast's Superior Calfs' Foot Jelly. 
Adcock's celebrated Melton- Mowbray Pork Pies. — Oranges, Lemons, $c. 



GEORGE LEWIS, 

Law Stationer and Accountant, 

3Leg Street, ©stetrg. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



A. LYONS, 

WATCHMAKER, 

LEG-STREET, OSWESTRY, 

Respectfully announces that he has constantly on sale a large assortment of 

nmunrir. 

Of his own and foreign manufacture ; also 

SPECTACLES, PRESERVERS, & EYE-GLASSES, 

To suit all sights and ages, made on the premises, with the best 

Brazilian $e&Meg $$ Crgstate* 



A. L. having been for many years practically engaged in the best houses on 
the Continent, is able to suit, at first glance, the sight of any person from the 
age of 10 to 70, with Spectacles or Eye-glasses. 



AGENT FOR ANDERSON'S PATENT SPECTACLES AND GLASSES. 



IMPORTER OF, AND DEALER IN 

PAEIS HOUSE, 
No. X, 33atleg Street, antr X, JHarfot Street, 



LINEN &, WOOIXEN DRAPER, 

Begs to call the attention of the Public to the above establishment, where they 
may rely upon being supplied with every description of LINEN & WOOLLEN 
DRAPERY, of the best quality, selected from the first manufactories, and 
OFFERED AT THE SMALLEST REMUNERATIVE PROFIT. 



<6 



& 



